The San Jose Sharks are looking for redemption tonight after putting up a subpar effort in Calgary just a few nights ago. The Sharks are in Chicago visiting the Blackhawks for stop number three on the road trip. It doesn’t get easier from here, so this really feels like a game that the Sharks need to win.

This is the first of three meetings between the Sharks and the Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks are probably out of the playoffs with a 21-25-9 record and just 51 points, the Blackhawks are seventh in the wild card race right now. That’s not out of the mix, but it’s also not close. That said, a good run can make all the difference. Chicago is 2-6-2 in its last ten games. The Blackhawks have lost the team’s last two in a row, most recently a 4-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.

That said, there are bright spots in Chicago’s season. Connor Bedard has had a bounce back season. He’s 33rd in the league in scoring with 52 points in 42 games. Tyler Bertuzzi leads the team with 25 goals. The Blackhawks may also have found a solution in net. Spencer Knight is 15-15-7 with a .909 save percentage.

San Jose Sharks lines tonight

For the Sharks, San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng reports that Kiefer Sherwood still isn’t ready to play. He also says that John Klingberg and Zack Ostapchuk will be scratched. We expect that Yaroslav Askarov will start tonight.

As a result, these are what the lines are expected to look like:

No Sherwood again tonight, it looks like.#SJSharks morning skate lines, Klingberg and Ostapchuk scratched:

Smith-Celebrini-Toffoli
Eklund-Wennberg-Graf
Regenda-Misa-Kurashev
Goodrow-Gaudette-Reaves

Orlov-Liljegren
Ferraro-Mukhamadullin
Dickinson-Desharnais

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) February 2, 2026

Forwards
Tyler Toffoli — Macklin Celebrini — Will Smith
William Eklund — Alexander Wennberg — Collin Graf
Pavol Regenda — Michael Misa — Phillip Kurashev
Barclay Goodrow — Adam Gaudette — Ryan Reaves

Defense
Dmitry Orlov — Timothy Liljegren
Mario Ferraro — Shakir Mukhamadullin
Sam Dickinson — Vincent Desharnais

Goaltenders
Yaroslav Askarov
Alex Nedeljkovic

Chicago Blackhawks lines vs. San Jose Sharks

As for the Blackhawks, this is what NHL.com reports the lines are expected to look like. The only injury the team is dealing with right now is to Nick Foligno.

Forwards
Frank Nazar — Connor Bedard — Tyler Bertuzzi
Teuvo Teravainen — Ryan Greene — Andre Burakovsky
Ryan Donato — Jason Dickinson — Ilya Mikheyev
Landon Slaggert — Oliver Moore — Colton Dach

Defense
Alex Vlasic — Louis Crevier
Wyatt Kaiser — Sam Rinzel
Matt Grzelcyk — Connor Murphy

Goaltenders
Spencer Knight
Arvid Soderblom

How to watch San Jose Sharks at Chicago Blackhawks

The puck drops at 5:30 p.m. PT/7:30 p.m. CT at United Center in Chicago.

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

Blackhawks fans can watch the game at CHSN or listen on WGN-720-AM.

Be sure to come back here at game time. The Artemi Panarin sweepstakes continues and the Sharks are still being mentioned in the talks.