Red Wings-Sharks morning skate Tweets and articles: Howard vs. Jones, ‘no changes’

Updated 2x at 3:24 PM: The Detroit Red Wings face a difficult opponent in the San Jose Sharks this evening (10:30 PM on FSD/NBCS Bay Area/97.1 FM).

The Sharks sit in a tightly-packed Pacific Division and are coming off a 2-0 loss to the Washington Capitals this past Saturday.

The Red Wings find themselves 14 points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, and the Wings spoke with DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner regarding their status:

It doesn’t take a world-class mathematician to figure out the Wings’ playoff chances are dim. They trail Columbus for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference by 14 points with 14 regular season games left on their schedule, but despite the near impossible odds, the Wings are approaching each game with a must-win mentality.

“I think it’s a process,” defenseman Mike Green said. “It’s a mindset right now, obviously this time of the season a big chunk of it is mental. We have to make sure we’re going into these games with the right process, right mind frame.

“Not only that, we’ve got to compete really hard every night to make sure we’re giving ourselves a chance. I think with that mentality we’ll get our wins here. It’s just unfortunate we have to make sure we win pretty much every night. There is a big task ahead of us.”

If Detroit cannot string together a plethora of wins in the coming weeks, the players vow they will continue to play hard with their sole purpose of winning hockey games and getting better.

“Regardless of where we are in the standings, it’s about coming in and doing it right every day,” alternate captain Niklas Kronwall said. “You work hard and you get rewarded for it. If you don’t work hard, it’s going to show right away.

“We haven’t been good enough here as of late. We need to get out of there as soon as possible. It just hasn’t been nearly good enough when it comes to all the small details of the game — the stick battles, the positioning. And when we do get our chances, we have to make the most of them.

“If you look at the bigger picture, this isn’t just now. What we’re doing right now is preparing ourselves, the young guys, for next year and for their careers, really. You (have to) learn to do it right and learn that you’re coming to work every day.”

The Sharks website’s Ann Frazier and Casey Krygier penned a Sharks game set-up as well:

The Sharks are back in action this Monday night, taking on the Detroit Red Wings tonight at 7:30PM at SAP Center to round up their season-high six game homestand.

The Sharks are coming off of trading shutouts in their past two games, first shutting out the St. Louis Blues before being shutout by the Washington Capitals. Both games featuring strong defense by the Sharks; the only goals scored on them was a strong shot by Nicklas Backstrom and an empty-netter.

In looking to regain their scoring touch tonight, the Sharks look to rediscover the offense that scored 13 goals in the first two games of this homestand. A key would be continuing to get their power play back on track; it got a lot of good looks, but wasn’t able to convert Saturday afternoon.

NBCS Bay Area’s Marcus White also examined the odds that the Sharks will make the playoffs this spring:

It was around this time last year when the San Jose Sharks’ season began to unravel. After beating the Buffalo Sabres in their 69th game of the season on Mar. 14, the Sharks would not win another game for two weeks. A seven-point lead atop the Pacific Division with 13 games to go turned into a six-point deficit at the end of the season, with San Jose in third place.

On Monday night, the Sharks will play their 69th game of the season when they host the Detroit Red Wings at SAP Center, and there’s even less breathing room than around this time last year. San Jose sits second in the Pacific, a point ahead of the Anaheim Ducks and just two up on the Los Angeles Kings, who are out of the playoff picture entirely.

How does that playoff picture look with less than a month until the postseason? Let’s see where the Sharks, their closest rivals, and the Wild Card teams stand headed into the week.

San Jose Sharks (Second in the Pacific, 81 points)

Games Remaining: 14

On the Docket: 3/12 vs Detroit, 3/14 at Edmonton, 3/16 at Calgary, 3/17 at Vancouver

Outlook: With three games against cellar-dwellers and one against a bubble team (Calgary), the Sharks can give new meaning to ‘controlling their own destiny’ with a successful week. They’re 7-2 in their last nine against non-playoff teams, and won two of three on their last swing through Western Canada, so the opportunity to solidify a playoff spot is there.

White continues…

The San Jose Sharks didn’t hit the ice at the SAP Center until 11:30 AM, per the Mercury News’s Paul Gackle…

Translated:

(that would be Martin Jones, tonight’s probable starting goaltender)

DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji also said, “Hello”…

As did the Red Wings:

The Sharks then posted a Tweet in which coach Pete DeBOer spoke with the media after the skate on Periscope…

The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz also confirmed tonight’s starting goaltender:

The Red Wings hit the ice at the SAP Center at 11:30 AM local time for their morning skate, per Wakiji…

The Free Press’s Helene St. James…

This is no surprise…Nor is the next Tweet’s news…

The Red Wings also said, “Hello”:

Update:

Update #2: Here’s coach Pete DeBoer’s pre-game media availability:

FYI:

 

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!