The Sharks played one of the best games of their season when the Lightning visited SAP Center earlier this month, defeating the NHL’s leading team 5-2.
In that game, Evander Kane found the back of the net twice while Brent Burns contributed as a helper on three goals. San Jose’s collective team defense also kept elite scorer Nikita Kucherov off the scoresheet.
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The Sharks would like to put on a similar performance against the Lightning on Saturday evening. Especially since they are coming off a disappointing effort in Arizona where they fell 6-3 to the Coyotes and had their winning streak snapped at seven games.
Tampa Bay is also looking for a rebound victory on Saturday after being defeated by the Maple Leafs 4-2 on Thursday. They’re still the best team in the Atlantic though – and in the league, for that matter – with a whopping 74 points. Despite Thursday’s loss to Toronto, they’re still 7-3-0 in their last 10 contests.
[RELATED: Sharks' Marc-Edouard Vlasic practices in Tampa, moves closer to return]
In 41 total franchise meetings, the Sharks have a 20-17-2-2 record against the Bolts.
San Jose Sharks
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Sharks projected lines and pairs
Marcus Sorensen – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Lukas Radil – Logan Couture – Timo Meier
Evander Kane – Tomas Hertl – Joonas Donskoi
Kevin Labanc – Barclay Goodrow – Melker Karlsson
Radim Simek – Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon – Erik Karlsson
Tim Heed – Justin Braun
Martin Jones – projected starter
Aaron Dell
Lightning projected lines and pairs
Ondrej Palat – Steven Stamkos – Yanni Gourde
Alex Killorn – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Mathieu Joseph – Anthony Cirelli – J.T. Miller
Adam Erne – Cedric Paquette – Ryan Callahan
Victor Hedman – Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Braydon Coburn – Anton Stralman
Andrei Vasilevskiy – projected starter
Louis Domingue