Tonight is another response game for the San Jose Sharks after the absolute walloping the team took at the hands of the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night. The Sharks are on the road, which should help with team bonding. The real question is, how will San Jose respond to another tough NHL contender? The last time the Sharks were in this position was about a week ago, when the Colorado Avalanche chewed them up and spit them out. San Jose came back the next game and beat the Vancouver Canucks, a team very much struggling to start the season. The same can’t be said for tonight’s opponent, the Dallas Stars.

While Dallas is banged up, it’s not affecting the team’s overall performance in the Central Division. The Stars are 18-5-5, good for second place in the Central. That said, the depth has been tested, most recently by the injury to Tyler Seguin, who is expected to miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury. Dallas will also be without defenseman Thomas Harley tonight. That’s on top of the loss of defensemen Nils Lundkvist and Liam Bichsel. Up front, Matt Duchene is also out.

The scary part is, even without those top players, the Stars are still a force. The team will have Jason Robertson, Mikko Rantanen and Wyatt Johnston up front. On the backend, look for Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell to play heavy minutes tonight, especially against Macklin Celebrini and the rest of the top line.

Dallas’ success this season is even more impressive when you consider that top netminder Jake Oettinger is sporting a .906 save percentage and a 2.60 goals against average. It’s actually backup Casey DeSmith who has the better numbers. He’s 6-1-3 with a 2.16 goals against average and .921 save percentage.

The top scorer for the Stars is Robertson. He has 36 points in 28 games. Robertson also leads the team with 17 goals. Rantanen is close behind with 35 points. Johnston is second on the team in goals with 16.

San Jose Sharks lines tonight

According to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng, the Sharks have shaken up the line combinations to try and spark a win. Vincent Iorio, Shakir Mukhamadullin and Ryan Reaves will all be scratched. For Reaves, it’s because he’s a bit banged up. As for Iorio and Mukhamadullin, the issue is speed and assertiveness.

Look for Nick Leddy, Sam Dickinson and Jeff Skinner to play instead. And Yaroslav Askarov will get the start after he was chased from Wednesday night’s game against the Capitals.

Here’s what we’re guessing the lines will look like.

Forwards
Tyler Toffoli — Macklin Celebrini — Will Smith
William Eklund — Alexander Wennberg — Philipp Kurashev
Jeff Skinner — Ty Dellandrea — Collin Graf
Adam Gaudette — Barclay Goodrow — Ryan Reaves

Defense
Dmitry Orlov — Timothy Liljegren
Mario Ferraro — John Klingberg
Sam Dickinson — Nick Leddy

Goaltenders
Yaroslav Askarov
Alex Nedeljkovic

Dallas Stars lines vs. San Jose Sharks tonight

As for the Stars, here’s what we expect the lines to look like given all the injuries. Look for Oettinger in the net.

Forwards
Jamie Benn — Wyatt Johnston — Mikko Rantanen
Jason Robertson — Roope Hintz — Mavrik Bourque
Oskar Back — Justin Hryckowian — Nathan Bastian
Sam Steel — Radek Faksa — Colin Blackwell

Defense
Esa Lindell — Miro Heiskanen
Vladislav Kolyachonok — Ilya Lyubushkin
Kyle Capobianco — Alexander Petrovic

Goaltenders
Jake Oettinger
Casey DeSmith

How to watch San Jose Sharks at Dallas Stars, Dec. 5, 2025

The puck drops at 5 p.m. PT/7 p.m. CT at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Sharks fans can watch the game on NBCSCA or listen on the Sharks Audio Network.

Stars fans can watch the game on Victory+ or listen to it on 96.7 FM The Ticket, 1310 AM.

And be sure to join us here on Fear the Fin at game time to talk to other Sharks fans about what’s happening on the ice and around the league. I’m sure some of you will also have your eye on the San Jose Barracuda, where we could see round two of Michael Misa vs. the teddy bears.

I’ll leave round 1 right here for your viewing pleasure.