The San Jose Sharks return from the holiday break to host the Vegas Golden Knights

After the holiday break, Team Teal returned to the ice against the Vegas Golden Knights. Christmas gave the league a much-needed break from the constant chaos of the NHL, and the Sharks return to the SAP Center tonight against the Sin City gamblers. Getting back in the win column would allow the Sharks to continue building confidence in the first half of this back-to-back series. They will both be challenging games, but the Sharks can win both.

After the festive period, Team Teal will look to star center Macklin Celebrini to continue their rise and dominance in the Bay Area. There has been a lot of talk about the rising Canadian star and the Sharks know he will be a cornerstone of the organization for many years to come. If he can continue his development and strong play at the NHL level, the Sharks can continue to focus on other concerns and leave Celebrini alone for now.

William Eklund is still in action and we are unsure of his status ahead of the clash with the Golden Knights. He is another piece of the puzzle for the future of the San Jose Sharks. We know the Swedish winger’s ability, but there’s no denying that the Swede wasn’t at his best at this point in the season. As the Sharks expect more from Eklund, he will sit on the bench and try to deal with his injury.

Planned lineups

Vegas Golden Knights

Victor Olofsson – Jack Eichel – Mark Stone
Tomas Hertl – William Karlsson – Keegan Kolesar
Brett Howden – Tanner Laczynski – Pavel Dorofeyev
Tanner Pearson – Cole Schwindt – Alexander Holtz
Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin – Alex Pietrangelo
Nicolas Hague – Zach Whitecloud
Adin Hill
Ilya Samsonov

San Jose Sharks

Barclay Goodrow – Mikael Granlund – Tyler Toffoli
Fabian Zetterlund – Macklin Celebrini – Will Smith
Nikolai Kovalenko – Alex Wennberg – Luke Kunin
Carl Grundstrom – Nico Sturm – Ty Dellandrea
Henry Thrun-Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro – Timothy Liljegren
Shakir Mukhamadullin – Jan Rutta
Alexandra Georgiev
Yaroslav Askarov

Puck drop

The puck will drop from the Shark Tank at 7:30 p.m. when the Sharks welcome back Tomas Hertl. Last year, Hertl received a large part of the package that the Sharks used to acquire Yaroslav Askarov from the Nashville Predators at the deadline. It’s always special when a former Shark comes back, especially when it’s someone who meant as much to this organization as Hertl did.