Preview/Lines #43: Walman Close to Return? Why Start Georgiev? Sturm Injury Update

Is Jake Walman on the way back?

That would be good news for the San Jose Sharks, who have clearly missed their top puck-moving defenseman, since he was felled by a lower-body injury on Dec. 21 at the Edmonton Oilers.

Walman leads San Jose blueliners with 25 points in 31 games. His 0.81 Points Per Game is ninth among all NHL defensemen.

Walman has been skating on his own the last few days, but today, he joined the Sharks for morning skate, the first time that he’s skated with his teammates since New Year’s Day.

Head coach Ryan Warsofsky says Walman could be an option for Friday’s faceoff at Utah Hockey Club.

We’ll see if Walman re-joins practice on Wednesday. That would be a clear sign that he’s on the path to Salt Lake City.

San Jose Sharks (13-23-6)

Alexandar Georgiev will start.

Yaroslav Askarov, however, has been tremendous over the last two wins, stopping 52 of his last 55 shots.

“Just been a week since he’s played. We gotta get him playing here,” Warsofsky said of Georgiev, who last played on New Year’s Eve in a 4-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. “We have full confidence in Georgie. He’s won a lot of games in this league.”

Georgiev led the NHL with 78 wins from 2022-23 to 2023-24.

Warsofsky noted that netminding decisions are made with goaltending coach Thomas Speer…and maybe more?

“Very collaborative,” Warsofsky said of the decision-making. “But with everyone in the building.”

Director of goaltending Evgeni Nabokov? GM Mike Grier?

That’s a follow-up for another day.

Here’s the rest of the line-up:

#SJSharks lines in the morning, looks like Mukhamadullin back in?

Eklund-Granlund-Zetterlund
Kostin-Wennberg-Toffoli
Graf-Celebrini-Smith
Goodrow-Kunin-Kovalenko

Thrun-Ceci
Ferraro-Liljegren
Mukhamadullin-Rutta

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 7, 2025

Power play groups:

Liljegren-Granlund-Celebrini-W. Smith-Toffoli
Mukhamadullin-Wennberg-Eklund-Graf-Zetterlund

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 7, 2025

Ty Dellandrea, Carl Grundstrom, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic are the scratches tonight.

Meanwhile, Nico Sturm, not on the ice, is considered day-to-day, after suffering a lower-body injury during Thursday’s victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Vegas Golden Knights (27-9-3)

Samsonov was the first goalie off the ice for #VegasBorn

— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) January 7, 2025

Victor Olofsson also back after missing Saturday.

Pearson-Eichel-Stone
Hertl-Karlsson-Dorofeyev
Olofsson-Howden-Kolesar
Røndbjerg-Schwindt-Holtz
Roy

Hanifin-Pietrangelo
McNabb-Theodore
Hague-Whitecloud

Hill
Samsonov

— Danny Webster (@DannyWebster21) January 6, 2025

Where To Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights is 7:30 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.