Goalie Yaroslav Askarov will make his first start in over two weeks, and Tyler Toffoli could return to the lineup Thursday when the San Jose Sharks face the St. Louis Blues in a game between two teams headed in opposite directions.
Askarov’s last start came on March 10, as he stopped 20 of 25 shots in the Sharks’ 6-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Askarov suffered a lower-body injury in practice in Boston the following day and did not dress for the next six games before he backed up Alex Nedeljkovic on Tuesday in the Sharks’ 6-3 loss to the Nashville Predators.
Askarov has started a majority of the Sharks’ 69 games this season, going 19-17-3 with an .886 save percentage in 40 appearances.
Nedeljkovic carried most of the workload in Askarov’s absence, starting six of seven games. For the season, Nedeljkovic is 13-13-3 with an .894 save percentage.
The loss in Nashville was the Sharks’ fifth straight, and with 70 points, they entered Thursday seven points back of the Predators for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference, with two games in hand. San Jose was also eight points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for third place in the Pacific Division, with three games in hand.
The Sharks are now in 12th place in the West, and will have to pass Winnipeg, Seattle, and Los Angeles before they can catch Nashville.
The Blues, meanwhile, have gone 9-2-2 since the Olympic break and are now one point behind the Sharks, who have fallen into 27th place in the NHL’s overall standings. As of Thursday morning, the Sharks had a 9.3% chance of reaching the playoffs, per MoneyPuck.com.
Toffoli has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury he sustained in the first period of the Sharks’ home game against the Sabres on March 19. He was not with the Sharks in Nashville, but joined the team in St. Louis.
Toffoli is the Sharks’ third leading scorer this season with 44 points in 67 games, with eight points in his last 12 games. The Sharks can use the extra scoring punch after being held to two even-strength goals in their last three games, while allowing 27 goals during the five-game skid.
Forward Philipp Kurashev and defenseman Nick Leddy are expected to be healthy scratches, and center Ty Dellandrea is on the trip but remains out with a lower-body injury.
The Blues will be without leading scorer Robert Thomas, who was injured in their game against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday when he was tackled to the ice by Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Thomas, considered day-to-day, had two goals, including the overtime winner, in the Blues’ 3-2 win over the Sharks on March 6 at SAP Center.
Goalie Joel Hofer will start for the Blues. Since the Olympic break, Hofer is 6-0-2 with a .959 save percentage and two shutouts in eight games.
