The San Jose Sharks flew north last night and will take on the Minnesota Wild for the first time this season.

The San Jose Sharks (15-38-6) flew north last night and will take on the Minnesota Wild (28-27-6) for the first time this season. 

The Sharks are coming off a heartbreaking 3-2 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars yesterday but must quickly turn their attention to the surging Wild. 

The Wild have gone from perennial disappointment at the start of the season to fighting for their playoff lives. They fired Dean Evason and brought in Sharks head coach David Quinn's good friend John Hynes as a replacement. 

"He's done a heck of a job since he's been there. I knew he would," Quinn said. "I know they've had some tough losses here over the last week, which put them on the outside looking in the playoff spot. This is a dangerous team. They're well-coached. I mean, they've got skill, they're strong, so it's going to be quite a challenge tonight."

Hynes has gone 23-17-2 since becoming the head coach. Kirill Kaprizov has 16 points (6 goals, 10 assists) in his last ten games but hasn't scored a point in the previous three. 

William Eklund has scored a goal in back-to-back games, giving him double-digit goals for the first time in his young NHL career. Kaapo Kahkonen will start for San Jose after Magnus Chrona started yesterday.

San Jose dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen yesterday, with Alexander Barabanov and Ty Emberson out with injuries. Kevin Labanc was a healthy scratch. Quinn confirmed that they will have the same lineup.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic returned to the lineup after missing the previous three games with an upper-body injury he sustained in practice. 

The Sharks are on a six-game losing streak (0-5-1) and will look to right the ship tonight. 

Projected Sharks line combinations:

Duclair-Granlund-Zetterlund
Zadina-Eklund-Kunin
Hoffman-Sturm-Bailey
Smith-Carpenter-

Ferraro-Burroughs
Thrun-Rutta
Okhotiuk-Vlasic
Addison (could play forward)

Kahkonen
Chrona

Puck drop is at 4 p.m. PST and can be seen on NBC Sports California or the Sharks Audio Network.

Make sure you bookmark THN's San Jose Sharks site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

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