Sharks Look to Continue Win Streak, Take on Canucks: Game Preview

Mar 05, 2013; Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA; San Jose Sharks forward Scott Gomez (23) and Vancouver Canucks right wing Alexandre Burrows (14) during the third period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

The San Jose  Sharks (17-11-6) are home once again at HP Pavillion and take on the visiting Vancouver Canucks (19-10-6) in the fourth game of their seven-game home stand.

This will be the third and final meeting between the two teams and it will be another important game with San Jose chasing the Canucks in the Western Conference.  The two points would go a long ways for both teams, but probably even more importantly for the Canucks who are battling for first place in their division with the Minnesota Wild.

Vancouver lost their last game to the Edmonton Oilers by a final of 4-0 on Saturday but other than that have been hot of late having won six-straight before the loss.  Key to their winning ways, as always, are the Sedin twins who are one and two on the team in points.

So far this season Henrik Sedin at 31 points while Daniel is at 29.  Henrik  has nine goals and a team leading 22 assists while his brother is the only Canuck with double-digit goals at 10.  Daniel also has 19 assists this season.

As far as lineup changes go for the Sharks Wooster call-up Matt Tennyson will be in the lineup tonight and will most likely be paired with Brad Stuart.  This will allow Brent Burns to go back to his forward position tonight on the the first line.  This is a bit of a milestone for the Sharks franchise because this will be the first Jr. Sharks player to play for the big club.  Congrats to him.

This right away is good news as it allows Burns to get back to where he has been doing all kinds of damage.  While I thought Burns played pretty solidly against Phoenix I did see him ‘catch’ himself realizing he was a defenseman and not a forward

What To Watch For

It will be interesting to see who head coach Todd McLellan throws out against the Canucks’ top line this evening.  Usually he will put out the Thornton line out there because he is great defensively and in the faceoff circle but as of late that role has gone to the Couture line.  McLellan seems to have a lot of faith in that line and it seems to be paying off so far.  They are playing very well together and have definitely ganed some chemistry.  I would not be surprised to see this line get the tough matchup tonight.

Also keep an eye on the rookie tonight to see how he performs.  He’ll be thrown out there to show what he can do, and hopefully he can deliver.  If he can perform well tonight he might secure himelf as the seventh defenseman when playoffs roll around which would be great considering San Jose now lacks some depth at the blue line.