Preview/Lines #3: DeBoer Happy Sharks ‘On the Way Back’

DALLAS — Pete DeBoer is happy that the San Jose Sharks are turning it around.

DeBoer coached the Sharks from 2015 to 2020, leading San Jose to the 2016 Stanley Cup Final and 2019 Western Conference Finals.

He’s still paying attention to the Sharks: “Got a glimpse of the home opener and great to see the Shark Tank starting to fill up again. Great that the area is getting excited about some of the young guys coming, obviously Celebrini and Will Smith and some of their young players. It’s such a great hockey market. I enjoyed it at its peak.”

DeBoer was sad to see a half-empty SAP Center last year, commiserating with Sharks legend Joe Pavelski, who played with the Stars last year: “I remember talking with Pav last year, [who] was there during the peak. And you don’t like to see it when it’s not at the peak, because you know how great a spot it is. So nice to see it on the way back.”

San Jose Sharks (0-1-1)

Mackenzie Blackwood draws the start. That’s a little surprising, after Vitek Vanecek’s strong performance against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.

“We’re going to keep Blacky going. Didn’t want to have him off for too long, and thought he still played, even though we lost that game, I thought he gave us a chance, had a really good first period,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said.

Morning skate lines are the same as lines in the last game:

Eklund-Granlund-Toffoli
Kostin-W. Smith-Zetterlund
Goodrow-Wennberg-Kunin
Grundstrom-Sturm-Dellandrea

Walman-Ceci
Ferraro-Rutta
Thrun-Benning

That means that Danil Gushchin and Givani Smith are once again scratched.

“We played pretty good hockey against Anaheim, we just couldn’t find a way to score a goal,” Warsofsky said. “I thought each line gave us something.”

Could DeBoer target rookie center Smith’s line? Already last game, Warsofsky seemed to be holding the Smith line out for fourth-line matchups. Smith played most of his 5-on-5 shifts against Ducks fourth-line center Isac Lundestrom.

But now, the home Stars get last change.

“We can’t really get wrapped up into that,” Warsofsky said. “We know what we want to do.”

Here’s how the power play groups lined up:

#SJSharks practice power play units:

PP1: Walman-Eklund-Granlund-Toffoli-Zetterlund
PP2: Thrun-Kostin-W. Smith-Wennberg-Kunin

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 14, 2024

Dallas Stars (3-0-0)

Ty Dellandrea got his wish, Jake Oettinger is starting.

Dellandrea says he grabbed dinner with Oettinger last night. Just a Draft year apart, Dellandrea and Oettinger grew up together in the Stars organization.

Welcome @William_Espy to San Jose Hockey Now!

He writes a fun story about Ty Dellandrea's return to Dallas. #TheFutureIsTeal call Dellandrea the "definition of a pro", the ex-Stars winger hopes to score on Jake Oettinger & more: https://t.co/OoaGRndxoc

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 15, 2024

DeBoer said Dellandrea should look to Barclay Goodrow for inspiration: “That’s a good blueprint for Ty Dellandrea, establish yourself as a player and then let your character and leadership take over.”

DeBoer had Goodrow in San Jose and Dellandrea in Dallas, so he would know.

Tyler Seguin out. Day to day lower body. Mavrik Bourque in.

Dumba is week to week. No surgery

Oettinger in goal

— Mike Heika (@MikeHeika) October 15, 2024

Where To Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars is 5:00 PM PT at American Airlines Arena. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.

Alex Stalock will make his Sharks Audio Network debut for tonight's game with @DanRusanowsky!

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 15, 2024