Goalie Yaroslav Askarov will make his first begin in over two weeks, and Tyler Toffoli might return to the lineup Thursday when the San Jose Sharks face the St. Louis Blues in a game between two groups headed in reverse instructions.
Askarov’s final begin got here on March 10, as he stopped 20 of 25 pictures in the Sharks’ 6-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Askarov suffered a lower-body damage in follow in Boston the next day and didn’t gown for the subsequent six video games earlier than he backed up Alex Nedeljkovic on Tuesday in the Sharks’ 6-3 loss to the Nashville Predators.
Askarov has began a majority of the Sharks’ 69 games this season, going 19-17-3 with an .886 save share in 40 appearances.
Nedeljkovic carried a lot of the workload in Askarov’s absence, beginning six of seven video games. For the season, Nedeljkovic is 13-13-3 with an .894 save share.
The loss in Nashville was the Sharks’ fifth straight, and with 70 factors, they entered Thursday seven factors back of the Predators for the second wild card spot within the Western Conference, with two video games in hand. San Jose was additionally eight factors back of the Vegas Golden Knights for third place within the Pacific Division, with three video games in hand.
The Sharks at the moment are in twelfth place within the West, and must go Winnipeg, Seattle, and Los Angeles earlier than they’ll catch Nashville.
The Blues, in the meantime, have gone 9-2-2 because the Olympic break and at the moment are one level behind the Sharks, who’ve fallen into twenty seventh place within the NHL’s general standings. As of Thursday morning, the Sharks had a 9.3% probability of reaching the playoffs, per MoneyPuck.com.
Toffoli has missed the final two video games with a lower-body damage he sustained within the first interval of the Sharks’ residence game towards the Sabres on March 19. He was not with the Sharks in Nashville, however joined the group in St. Louis.
Toffoli is the Sharks’ third main scorer this season with 44 factors in 67 video games, with eight factors in his final 12 video games. The Sharks can use the additional scoring punch after being held to 2 even-strength targets of their final three video games, whereas permitting 27 targets throughout the five-game skid.
Forward Philipp Kurashev and defenseman Nick Leddy are anticipated to be wholesome scratches, and middle Ty Dellandrea is on the journey however stays out with a lower-body damage.
The Blues can be with out main scorer Robert Thomas, who was injured in their game towards the Washington Capitals on Tuesday when he was tackled to the ice by Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Thomas, thought-about day-to-day, had two targets, together with the time beyond regulation winner, within the Blues’ 3-2 win over the Sharks on March 6 at SAP Center.
Goalie Joel Hofer will begin for the Blues. Since the Olympic break, Hofer is 6-0-2 with a .959 save share and two shutouts in eight video games.
