The San Jose Sharks face the Dallas Stars with both teams on opposite ends of the standings to start the season. The Sharks have a 3-9-3 record and are near the bottom of the Pacific Division while the Stars have an 8-4-1 record and are near the top of the Central Division. Both teams are looking to improve in their divisions and the Western Conference and the upcoming game should be a good one as a result.
The Sharks are having an awful season and hope the offense can step up, scoring only 2.57 goals per game. While Timo Meier, Tomas Hertl, and Erik Karlsson have combined for 19 goals and 26 assists, the rest of the offense has struggled. The hope is that Evgeny Svechnikov and Kevin Lebanc can step up as they play a key role in the forward unit but have only scored four goals and seven assists combined.
The offense has let the Sharks down but the defense has also struggled, allowing 3.29 goals per game. While Erik Karlsson and Jaycob Megna have combined for 1.9 defensive point shares and 24 blocked shots, the rest of the unit has been awful, allowing opponents to fire the puck on the net at will. The bright spot has been the play of goaltender James Reimer who has a .910 save percentage and a 2.88 goals-against average on 290 shots.