SAN JOSE – With some of their offensive numbers ranking near the bottom of the NHL, the Sharks switched up some of their forward lines for their practice on Monday.
Igor Chernyshov replaced Mason Marchment on the Sharks’ top line, playing alongside center Macklin Celebrini and right wing Will Smith. Marchment then played on the second or third line, with center Alexander Wennberg and Tyler Toffoli.
A new look line had center Michael Misa and wingers Ivar Stenberg and Kiefer Sherwood, and the fourth line had center Zack Ostapchuk with wingers Collin Graf and Adam Gaudette, with Ty Dellandrea mixing in.
Barclay Goodrow was not on the ice for Monday’s practice for yet unknown reasons.
The Sharks’ defense pairings on Monday matched the last three games: Darnell Nurse with Michael Kesselring, Jacob Trouba with Sam Dickinson, and Dmitry Orlov with Luca Cagnoni.
The Sharks did, though, adjust their top power-play unit, with Stenberg replacing Chernyshov. The rookie winger joined Celebrini, Smith, Wennberg, and Cagnoni. The second unit had Toffoli, Misa, Chernyshov, Marchment, and Orlov.
Going into Tuesday’s home game against the Boston Bruins, the Sharks, per Natural Stat Trick, and Columbus Blue Jackets were tied for 30th in the NHL with just 78 scoring chances each during 5-on-5 play, ahead of only the Los Angeles Kings (73). Both the Blue Jackets and Kings, though, have played one fewer game than the Sharks.
The Sharks are also 32nd and last in the league in expected goals-for percentage (30.4), down from 27th last season (46.91).
Some of those dismal numbers this season came from leading scorer Macklin Celebrini’s absence last week in games against the Dallas Stars (a 5-0 loss) and the St. Louis Blues (a 3-2 overtime win).
But the Sharks were also bottled up pretty good by the Edmonton Oilers at home on Saturday, when Celebrini made his return. San Jose managed just two high-danger chances, both in the second period, as it continues to be dead last in that category with just 22 for the season.
After Saturday’s game, coach Ryan Warsofsky hinted the Sharks might make changes to their forward combinations.
“We’ve got to figure it out, right?” Warsofsky said. “There’s a balance of kind of building some chemistry, and there’s a balance of finding chemistry and what clicks and what matchups you want to get. So we’ve got to figure out our lines here.”