The Sharks play just two more games before the All-Star break, and the team kicks things off Monday as they continue their tour through the Sunshine State to play the Florida Panthers.
San Jose looks to continue its current road trip on a high note after dropping their last two contests. In their Saturday evening bout with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Sharks were able to dig out of a two-goal hole to tie things up in the second frame. But the Bolts jumped on the little mistakes the Sharks made and came away with a 6-3 victory.
San Jose remains in second place in the Pacific Division with 63 points, but the Vegas Golden Knights are right on their heels with 62. Vegas hosts the Minnesota Wild on Monday while the Sharks are in Florida.
The Panthers are on the opposite end of the spectrum from the Sharks. Florida currently occupies sixth place in the Atlantic Division, well out of a playoff spot. They have, however, been playing better hockey as of late and have won two contests in a row. On Saturday evening, they defeated the Nashville Predators 4-2.
Monday's game marks the first of two regular season games between the Sharks and the Panthers. In 34 total meetings between the franchises, San Jose holds a 14-10-7-3 record.
San Jose is expected to be without defenseman Erik Karlsson for Monday's game in Florida. Additionally, fellow blueliner Marc-Edouard Vlasic could potentially pencil back into the lineup after missing almost the entire month of January due to injury.
[RELATED: Karlsson will miss last two games before All-Star break]
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Sharks projected lines and pairs:
Marcus Sorensen – Joe Thornton – Melker Karlsson
Timo Meier – Logan Couture – Joe Pavelski
Evander Kane – Tomas Hertl – Joonas Donskoi
Lukas Radil – Barclay Goodrow – Kevin Labanc
Radim Simek – Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon – Tim Heed
Martin Jones – projected starter
Aaron Dell
Panthers projected lines and pairs:
Frank Vatrano – Aleksander Barkov – Evgenii Dadonov
Jonathan Huberdeau – Vincent Trocheck – Nick Bjugstad
Mike Hoffman – Henrik Borgstrom – Denis Malgin
Jayce Hawryluk – Jared McCann – Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle – Aaron Ekblad
Michael Matheson – Mark Pysyk
Ian McCoshen – Josh Brown
Roberto Luongo – projected starter
James Reimer
