Game Day Gutcheck & Lineups: Sharks Look to Avenge Loss to Bruins

To say that the San Jose Sharks' last game against the Boston Bruins didn't go well would be quite an understatement. The Sharks lost 6-3, but that score doesn't truly show how much they were outplayed by Boston. There are a few major changes to the Sharks' lineup compared to last game.

Alex Nedeljkovic is set to start between the pipes for Ryan Warsofsky's side, having outperformed Yaroslav Askarov to this point in the season. Considering Askarov struggled in his last outing against the Bruins, it's not a major surprise that Warsofsky opted to throw someone else in goal. Across the ice, Jeremy Swayman will be back between the pipes for Boston as he performed very well in his last outing against the Sharks. The Sharks have always struggled against Swayman, who has a .928 save percentage in his five starts against them. 

Igor Chernyshov suffered an injury after blocking a shot in the Sharks' last game, as a result Braintree, MA native Adam Gaudette will draw into the lineup and make his season debut against his hometown team. Luca Cagnoni is also expected to be a healthy scratch, which is also unsurprising after he had his worst performance to date in the Sharks' last meeting with the Bruins. 

Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak, unsurprisingly, have been very effective against the Sharks in their career with Lindholm registering 27 points in 30 games and Pastrnak sitting above a point-per-game against Team Teal with 20 points in 18 games. 

Macklin Celebrini, who is coming off of a point-less game against the Ottawa Senators and has failed to record a point in three of his last five games, is typically very effective against the Bruins though as he has seven points in his five games against them. Mason Marchment has also had considerable success against Beantown, with 10 points in 12 games.

Collin Graf has been promoted to the top line as a result of Chernyshov's injury and he's been very effective with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith in the past. As a result, they should thrive together once again right out of the gate.

The Bruins are off to a very hot start, as they currently sit on 17 points from a possible 22 to start the season. They're just one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the league points lead but have a game in hand. As a result, Boston could surpass the Hurricanes with a win over the Sharks. With that being said, the Sharks' goal this season is to reach the playoffs and this is the type of team that they'll have to find a way to beat if they're going to achieve that goal.

Projected Sharks Lines (Per Curtis Pashelka)

Graf - Celebrini - Smith

Stenberg - Misa - Sherwood

Marchment - Dellandrea - Toffoli

Goodrow - Ostapchuk - Gaudette

Nurse - Kesselring

Dickinson - Trouba

Orlov - Allan

Nedeljkovic

Askarov

Bruins Projected Lines (Per Jack Studley)

Peterka - Zacha - Pastrnak

Khusnutdinov - Minten - Geekie

Mittelstadt - E. Lindholm - Hagens

Jeannot - Poitras - Kastelic

H. Lindholm - McAvoy

Zadorov - Borgen

Brunet - Lohrei

Swayman

DiPietro