Preseason Preview/Lines #1: What Am I Looking for Tonight?

What am I looking for in the San Jose Sharks’ first preseason tilt?

Well, it won’t be the team’s benches:

My #SJSharks pressbox view, 2021 vs. 2022 pic.twitter.com/mcCBytmVTa

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) September 25, 2022

Here’s what I’ll be watching tonight at SAP Center: Can William Eklund and Thomas Bordeleau make their mark against LA’s B-team?

Can bubble players like Scott Harrington, Evgeny Svechnikov, Jasper Weatherby, and Radim Simek show why they deserve to stay on the big club?

It looks like San Jose is running a loaded line-up tonight, which I assume is because of their compressed pre-season.

David Quinn confirmed this: “We haven’t had a chance to go over any special teams yet. So this is an opportunity in a game situation to get a power play unit together and do some penalty kill stuff. So without question, the fact that we’re leaving here in less than a week has something to do with the players we have in the line-up.”

San Jose Sharks (0-0-0)

Head coach David Quinn will share the Sharks’ starting goalie and lines at 2 PM PT. But for now, here’s the San Jose line-up and some projections for who will suit up.

#SJSharks #GoKingsGo line-ups tonight, Bordeleau, Eklund, Meier, Couture, Hertl, Karlsson should play (I don't see them down here for AM non-game players' practice) pic.twitter.com/4vY8zFgTMM

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) September 25, 2022

It’s worth noting that I saw Matt Nieto, Jaycob Megna, and Tristen Robins at Sharks Ice this morning, fully participating in practice, so I assume they’re not playing at 4 PM, they’re just going to SAP Center as extras.

UPDATED: Quinn confirmed that Nieto, Megna, and Robins are not playing. Kaapo Kahkonen starts, and is expected to go all the way.

Also:

Barabanov is day to day with lower body injury

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) September 25, 2022

We’ll have to wait until Tuesday to get a Barabanov update because the Sharks have Monday off.

Los Angeles Kings (0-0-0)

Save for Jonathan Quick, it looks like the Kings are keeping their stars at home tonight.

Where to Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and LA Kings is at 4:00 PM PT/7:00 PM ET at SAP Center. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.