SAN JOSE -- The San Jose Sharks are looking to snap their longest losing streak this season. They'll have the opportunity to get back in the win column on Monday evening when they host Gustav Nyquist's former team, the Detroit Red Wings.
Team Teal returns home after tallying just one point on their two-game trip down in Southern California with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks. San Jose currently sits with 95 points in the standings -- five points ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights and six points behind the Calgary Flames.
The Red Wings are the second-worst ranked team in the Eastern Conference, but visit San Jose coming off a 3-2 come-from-behind overtime victory over the Golden Knights. "They always give us a hard time," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said of the Detroit squad. "Their speed. They're young, they're enthusiastic. They're playing, really, with no pressure on them. Those are dangerous teams."
The Sharks will continue to play with captain Joe Pavelski, who is continuing to recover from a lower-body injury. DeBoer told the media Pavelski was "heading in the right direction," though. "If it was playoffs, he'd probably be able to play. But there's no sense rushing that right now."
Detroit will play without Thomas Vanek, who has been sidelined with a mid-body injury, per Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. The Red Wings will roll out 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Sharks.
This is the second and final time the Sharks and Red Wings will play each other this season. Through 93 total games played between the franchises, San Jose holds a 34-49-4-6 record.
Sharks projected lines and pairs:
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Timo Meier – Logan Couture – Gustav Nyquist
Evander Kane – Tomas Hertl – Joonas Donskoi
Marcus Sorensen – Joe Thornton – Kevin Labanc
Lukas Radil – Barclay Goodrow – Melker Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Tim Heed
Joakim Ryan – Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon – Justin Braun
Martin Jones – projected starter
Aaron Dell
[RELATED: Sharks need better goaltending with playoffs around corner]
Red Wings projected lines and pairs:
Tyler Bertuzzi – Dylan Larkin – Anthony Mantha
Luke Glendening – Andreas Athanasiou – Taro Hirose
Frans Nielsen – Darren Helm
Ryan Kuffner – Christoffer Ehn – Matt Puempel
Dan DeKeyser – Filip Hronek
Niklas Kronwall – Madison Bowey
Brian Lashoff – Luke Witkowski
Dylan McIlrath
Jonathan Bernier – projected starter
Jimmy Howard
