Who: San Jose Sharks (15-14-3, 33 points, 5th place Pacific Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (14-8-7, 35 points, 5th place Metropolitan Division)
When: 3:00 p.m. ET
How to Watch: Broadcast locally on Sportsnet Pittsburgh and NBC Sports California, streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: The homestand continues Sunday against the Utah Mammoth, followed by what could be a reunion with Tristan Jarry when the Edmonton Oilers come to town on Tuesday.
Opponent Track: The Sharks have been fairly consistently alternating
wins and losses for the last month. They’re most recently coming off a 4-1 loss in Philadelphia on Tuesday and a 3-2 overtime win in Toronto on Thursday.
Season Series: The Sharks got shut out of the season series opener as the Pens claimed a 3-0 win on Oct. 18 in San Jose.
Hidden Stat: After Thursday’s victory over the Leafs, the Sharks have seven wins in 10 overtime or shootout opportunities this season. (The Penguins are 1-8 in the same situations).
Getting to know the Sharks
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Collin Graf – Macklin Celebrini – Will Smith
William Eklund – Alexander Wennberg – Tyler Toffoli
Jeff Skinner – Ty Dellandrea (?) – Philipp Kurashev
Barclay Goodrow – Adam Gaudette – Ryan Reaves (?)
DEFENSEMEN
Dmitry Orlov / John Klingberg
Mario Ferraro / Shakir Mukhamadullin (?)
Sam Dickinson / Timothy Liljegren
Goalies: Yaroslav Askarov (?), Alex Nedeljkovic
Potential scratches: Nick Leddy, Vincent Iorio, Zack Ostapchuk
Injured Reserve: Logan Couture, Vincent Desharnais, Michael Misa
- Former Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic is working as part of a tandem with Yaroslav Askarov this season in San Jose. Nedeljkovic has made three straight starts, but he might get the nod again tonight given that Askarov has been dealing with an illness.
- Center Ty Dellandrea, winger Ryan Reaves and defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin will all be game-time decisions after suffering injuries in Thursday night’s matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs, per San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng.
Season stats
via hockeydb
- Macklin Celebrini (15-29—44 in 32 GP) is heading into this matchup ranked third in the NHL points race only to Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid. The first pick of the 2024 draft is off to a historically productive start to his NHL career.
- The Sharks’ Thursday win over the Leafs followed the same pattern that’s been troubling the Pens lately: San Jose scored at 6-on-5 to tie things up before winning in overtime.
Checking in on the rebuild
For the first time since 2019, this team is in the running for a playoff berth. Were the regular season to end today, both the Sharks and the Penguins would be sitting in Wild Card spots.
That wasn’t the plan heading into the 2025-26 season, Sharks president Jonathan Becher said earlier this week.
“We don’t expect to make the playoffs this year,” Becher said (h/t NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika). “If we do, great. That still was not the expectation coming into the year. We wanted a substantial leap forward. I think we’ve probably already achieved that, assuming we can keep up this level of play for the rest of the year.”
The Sharks’ improvement is hinging in large part on its young stars. Celebrini, 19, is leading his team’s scoring race. Twenty-year-old Will Smith is coming in just behind with 12 goals and 29 points in 32 games.
The franchise will be taking another step forward when 2025 No. 2 pick Michael Misa makes his full-time jump to the NHL. Add in hopes that Yaroslav Askarov will take another step forward as the Sharks’ goalie of the future this season, and the future is bright in San Jose.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Tommy Novak – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Justin Brazeau – Kevin Hayes – Anthony Mantha
Rutger McGroarty – Ben Kindel – Ville Koivunen
Connor Dewar – Danton Heinen – Noel Acciari
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea / Kris Letang
Ryan Graves / Connor Clifton
Goalies: Arturs Silovs, Stuart Skinner (?)
Potential Scratches: Jack St. Ivany, Harrison Brunicke, Brett Kulak (?), Rickard Rakell (?)
IR: Blake Lizotte, Evgeni Malkin, Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones
There could be some significant lineup changes coming tonight for the Pens, who dealt Tristan Jarry to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.
Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas said Friday whether goaltender Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak are in town in time for today’s game will depend on Canadian immigration policy.
“I’ve lived it. You don’t know how long it can take,” Dubas said Friday (h/t Pens Inside Scoop). “We’re working it out to try to get both players in here today, but we’ll see how it goes.”
Given the uncertainty surrounding Skinner’s status, it seems like a reasonable bet it could be Silovs getting the nod tonight against the Sharks.
- The Penguins waived Matt Dumba in order to make room for Kulak as part of the trade. If he clears, he’ll be reassigned to the AHL.
- Rickard Rakell was activated from injured reserve Friday following a 20-game absence. It’s not clear if he’ll be available to play tonight, although he told reporters there’s a possibility he’ll be back this weekend.
