San Jose Sharks Face Flames With Lineup Changes, Nazem Kadri Betting Focus
The Calgary Flames travel to the san jose sharks for a Thursday night matchup at SAP Center that carries immediate playoff and betting implications. Projected lineups, a season-ending injury and clear statistical edges for a Flames veteran are driving pregame narratives and market attention.
San Jose Sharks projected lineup and injury impact
The san jose sharks will ice a forward group led by Will Smith, Macklin Celebrini and Kiefer Sherwood on the top line, with Philipp Kurashev, Alexander Wennberg and Collin Graf forming the second. William Eklund, Michael Misa and Tyler Toffoli make up a third scoring trio, while Barclay Goodrow, Zack Ostapchuk and Ryan Reaves round out the fourth line.
Several roster moves and health developments are shaping the Sharks’ available depth. Jonathan Huberdeau is out for the season after hip surgery, while Jake Bean is listed as injured with an undisclosed issue and Samuel Honzek is sidelined with an upper-body injury. Adam Gaudette, Pavol Regenda and Shakir Mukhamadullin are scratched for the night. The team will insert Dickinson in place of Mukhamadullin on defense for this game.
The net effect of those absences is a compression of minutes toward the club’s healthy forwards and a greater reliance on depth pieces like Misa and Ostapchuk to provide secondary scoring and matchup minutes. That redistribution of roles is likely to factor into how the Sharks defend the slot and defend against center-heavy pressure.
Nazem Kadri and Calgary Flames projected lines
The Flames’ top trios list Yegor Sharangovich, Mikael Backlund and Matt Coronato on the first line, with Connor Zary, Nazem Kadri and Joel Farabee on the second. Blake Coleman, Morgan Frost and Matvei Gridin slot into the third line; Ryan Lomberg, John Beecher and Adam Klapka form the fourth. Brayden Pachal and Martin Pospisil are scratched. Coleman could return after missing 12 games with an upper-body injury, and Ryan Reaves will return to action after missing one game with an upper-body issue.
Nazem Kadri’s matchup history against the Sharks is a focal point for bettors and strategists. Over the most recent 14 meetings he has averaged 4. 3 shots on goal and 1. 2 points per game; he has tallied at least three shots in nine of the last 10 head-to-head contests. Across three meetings this season Kadri attempted 24 shots, posting six or more attempts in each game. The market has reflected that volume: a shot prop shows Kadri Over 2. 5 shots on goal with a listed price of -135.
Those figures align with team-level tendencies. The Sharks rank among the bottom four clubs in both shots and goals allowed, and they have conceded the second-most shots to centers over their last 10 games. The cause-and-effect is clear: a center with Kadri’s volume and propensity to shoot will find room to fire when opposing centers are inviting high shot totals. What makes this notable is how persistent that pattern has been across multiple recent meetings, suggesting it is more than a single-game quirk.
Game details, standings and immediate stakes
The game is scheduled to start at 10 p. m. ET on Thursday at SAP Center, with national streaming available on +. The san jose sharks enter the night at 27-24-4 for 58 points, sitting 11th in the Western Conference; the Calgary Flames are 23-27-6 with 52 points, in 14th place in the West. Those placements mean each contest has tangible consequences for positioning down the stretch.
Coaching staffs will weight matchups and ice time around the available personnel: the Sharks must compensate for Huberdeau’s absence and other injuries, while the Flames could be bolstered if Coleman returns. For bettors, Kadri’s sustained shot production against this opponent and the Sharks’ recent defensive vulnerabilities create a quantifiable angle that has shaped lines and props for the game.
Expect tactical adjustments in the early minutes as both teams test lines and exploit depth matchups. The immediate on-ice impacts — returnees for the Flames, added minutes for the Sharks’ healthy forwards and a defense reshuffle — should become evident in the first and second periods, influencing scoring chances and possession metrics down the stretch.
