The San Jose Sharks look to start off 2019 on the right foot as they visit Colorado for their first meeting of the season with the Avalanche.
Team Teal is coming off a rough 8-5 loss on New Year's Eve to the Pacific Division-leading Calgary Flames. They will also be without defenseman Radim Simek after he sustained a concussion from being hit by Calgary winger Sam Bennett with less than a minute left in Monday's game. Bennett did not receive any discipline from the NHL and there is no timetable currently set for Simek's return. Blueliner Joakim Ryan took Simek's place alongside Brent Burns during the Sharks' AM skate in Colorado.
The Avalanche are also looking to start off their season the right way after ending 2018 on a low note. Colorado hasn't won a game since their 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on December 19, dropping five straight contests ahead of their Wednesday night battle against the Sharks.
The Sharks went 1-2-0 in three games against the Avs last season. In 93 total franchise meetings, San Jose holds a 42-40-5-6 record.
Sharks projected lines and pairs:
Lukas Radil – Logan Couture – Timo Meier
Marcus Sorensen – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Evander Kane – Tomas Hertl – Joonas Donskoi
Kevin Labanc – Barclay Goodrow – Melker Karlsson
Radim Simek – Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon – Erik Karlsson
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Martin Jones – projected starter
Aaron Dell
Avalanche projected lines and pairs:
Tyson Jost – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen
Gabriel Landeskog – Alexander Kerfoot – JT Compher
Matt Nieto – Carl Soderberg – Matt Calvert
Gabriel Bourque – Sheldon Dries – Logan O'Connor
Samuel Girard – Erik Johnson
Ian Cole – Tyson Barrie
Ryan Graves – Patrik Nemeth
Philipp Grubauer – projected starter
Semyon Varlamov
