NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with Sunday’s matchup between the Colorado Avalanche 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.
After winning seven consecutive games from Feb. 19 – Mar. 2, the Avs have now dropped two straight. Colorado lost 6-3 at Vancouver on Friday night, snapping a nine-game franchise-record road winning streak, but with the Blues falling to the Devils earlier in the night the Avs had a chance to take over first place in the West with a win.
Nazem Kadri, Mikko Rantanen and Philipp Grubauer have all recently been back on the ice skating and could rejoin the team before the end of the regular season.
In the wake of Grubauer’s injury, Czech netminder Pavel Francouz has been heavily relied upon. The 29-year-old has started nine of the last 10 games, a stretch that included him winning six straight from Feb. 19 – Feb. 29. Francouz earned at least one point in eight of those nine starts (6-1-2), suffering his only regulation loss in Friday’s game in Vancouver.
For the Sharks, the 2019-20 campaign can’t end fast enough. San Jose finds themselves near the bottom of the Pacific Division standings and are headed towards missing the postseason for just the second time in the last 16 seasons, a year after making the Conference Final and losing to eventual Stanley Cup champion Blues.
The NHL sent a memo to all 31 of its teams on Friday, urging players to limit contact with fans due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Sharks already have made some changes to their usual routine and starting Friday, in a policy that will remain in place for the foreseeable future, members of the media are not allowed into San Jose’s dressing room after practice, and instead conducted their player interviews at a podium outside of it.
[COVERAGE BEGINS AT 10 P.M. ET ON NBCSN]
WHAT: Colorado Avalanche at San Jose Sharks
WHERE: SAP Center
WHEN: Sunday, March 8, 10 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Avalanche-Sharks stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
AVALANCHE
Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Vladislav Namestnikov
Tyson Jost - J.T. Compher - Joonas Donskoi
Matt Nieto - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Valeri Nichushkin
Vladislav Kamenev - Sheldon Dries - Logan O’Connor
Ryan Graves - Samuel Girard
Ian Cole - Erik Johnson
Mark Barberio - Kevin Connauton
Starting goalie: Pavel Francouz
SHARKS
Evander Kane - Logan Couture - Dylan Gambrell
Timo Meier - Joe Thornton - Marcus Sorensen
Antti Suomela - Alexandr True - Kevin Labanc
Melker Karlsson - Joel Kellman - Stefan Noesen
Radim Simek - Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Tim Heed
Nikolai Knyzhov - Brandon Davidson
Starting goalie: Martin Jones
Randy Hahn and analyst Jamie Baker will call the action at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. Kathryn Tappen will host Sunday night’s studio coverage alongside analyst and three-time Canadian Olympic gold medalist Jennifer Botterill.