Sharks vs Avalanche: Game 4 Preview

Series: Sharks lead 2-1

Location: Pepsi Center

Time: 10 p.m. ET; (NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS)

Overview:

Tonight the Colorado Avalanche will try and tie the series 2-2 against the San Jose Sharks at Pepsi Center. The Western Conference second round Game 4 matchup will determine who will determine how far the series could go.

Sharks Headlines

Tonight the Sharks hope to take the 3-1 series lead and finish the best-of-seven series at their home arena, SAP Center. Teams that lead 3-1 in the series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs won the series 90.5 % of the time. Overall, the Sharks are 10-1 all-time in series when they have the 3-1 lead.

On Tuesday night, the Sharks beat the Ave’s 4-2, with Logan Couture scoring a hat-trick. Martin Jones was solid in net stopping 25 out of 27 shots. The Sharks showed a perfect balance of offense and defense.  Expect the same line-up for the Sharks tonight.

The 🔢 ahead of Game 4.

🗒: https://t.co/PwHPOBSrEl pic.twitter.com/zHPGkCMBSA

— x – San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) May 2, 2019

Avalanche Headlines

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar announced Thursday morning that forward Matt Calvert may be in the lineup tonight. Calvert suffered a lower-body injury after a hip check from Brent Burns in Game 2. So far this series the Ave’s power-play been weak, scoring 1/9. Top scorers like Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen need to step up for their “biggest game of the year”. Rookie defenseman Cale Makar needs to be stronger and more aware of his opponents in front of the net.

The Ave’s want to avoid the Sharks leading 3-1. In franchise history, the Ave’s are 0-4 when down 3-1 in the series. Expect some shakeups in the lineup and expect a more physical game between the two contenders.

We know it’s the biggest game of the year.#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/zbl8a9ITl6

— x- Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 2, 2019

Sharks projected lines and pairs

Forwards

Timo Meier – Logan Couture – Gustav Nyquist

Evander Kane – Tomas Hertl – Lukas Radil

Marcus Sorensen – Joe Thornton – Kevin Labanc

Micheal Haley – Barclay Goodrow – Melker Karlsson

Defense

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Brent Burns

Brenden Dillon – Erik Karlsson

Joakim Ryan – Justin Braun

Starting goalie

Martin Jones

Avalanche projected lines and pairs

Forwards

Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Alexander Kerfoot

Colin Wilson – Carl Soderberg – Mikko Rantanen

Derick Brassard – JT Compher – Matt Nieto

Sven Andrighetto – Tyson Jost –– Gabriel Bourque

Defense

Ian Cole – Erik Johnson

Sam Girard – Cale Makar

Nikita Zadorov – Tyson Barrie

Starting goalie

Philipp Grubauer

Featured Image credit: NHL.com

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