NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with Tuesday’s matchup between the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks. Coverage begins at 10 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
Two perennial contenders over the last decade face off in the second of three meetings this season. The Blackhawks and Sharks met in Chicago on Oct. 10 , a 5-4 San Jose win in which Patrick Marleau scored twice and Barclay Goodrow put home the game-winner past Corey Crawford in the third period. That win was San Jose’s first of the season – in their fifth game – and was the start of a three-game win streak. More recently, though, the Sharks have struggled, dropping five straight and seven of their last eight games.
The Sharks have lost their last five games, all in regulation, with issues on both sides of the ice. San Jose has allowed 3-plus goals in each of its last five games and has not scored more than two goals in any of them.
The Blackhawks won in overtime on Sunday at Anaheim, 3-2, in the second game of their California road trip after losing at LA on Saturday (4-3), also in OT. Patrick Kane scored 24 seconds into the extra session on Sunday to give Chicago its first win in a week. The Blackhawks had surrendered a 2-0 lead and led in the third period before Anaheim forced OT. The previous day, Chicago had been on the other end of something similar vs LA, overcoming a 2-0 deficit and tying the game late in the third period on a Jonathan Toews goal, but ultimately losing in OT.
Overall, Chicago is off to an inauspicious start as they look to rebound from back-to-back non-playoff seasons. From 2009-2017, the Blackhawks made the postseason nine straight years, including winning three Stanley Cups, but before that run they made the playoffs just once in 10 seasons. It could be more likely that a streak similar to that is unfolding, rather than a return to the postseason.
[COVERAGE OF BLACKHAWKS-SHARKS BEGINS AT 10 P.M. ET – NBCSN]
WHAT: Chicago Blackhawks at San Jose Sharks
WHERE: SAP Center
WHEN: Tuesday, Nov. 5, 10 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Blackhawks-Sharks stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
BLACKHAWKS
Brandon Saad - Jonathan Toews - Alex Nylander
Alex DeBrincat - Dylan Strome - Patrick Kane
Dominik Kubalik - David Kampf - Kirby Dach
Drake Caggiula - Ryan Carpenter - Andrew Shaw
Duncan Keith - Adam Boqvist
Calvin de Haan - Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta - Erik Gustafsson
Starting goalie: Robin Lehner
SHARKS
Evander Kane - Logan Couture - Kevin Labanc
Timo Meier - Tomas Hertl - Barclay Goodrow
Marcus Sorensen - Joe Thornton - Patrick Marleau
Lean Bergmann - Noah Gregor - Lukas Radil
Radim Simek - Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Erik Karlsson
Brenden Dillon - Mario Ferraro
Starting goalie: Martin Jones
Kathryn Tappen will anchor tonight’s studio coverage with Jeremy Roenick and Anson Carter. Randy Hahn and Jamie Baker will call the Blackhawks-Sharks matchup from SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.
NBC Sports will premiere “The Russian Five” documentary, a feature on the first five Russians to play hockey together in the NHL, Wednesday, November 6, following Wednesday Night Hockey between the Red Wings and Rangers. The documentary tells the story of how Sergei Fedorov, Slava Fetisov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Slava Kozlov, and Igor Larionov were able to defect from their homeland and transform the Detroit Red Wings into perennial contenders and back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions in 1996-97 and 1997-98.