FSM Essential Preview: Golden Knights vs Sharks Game Postponed

The game between the Vegas Golden Knights and the San Jose Sharks tonight has been postponed due to a Sharks player testing positive for Covid-19.

This is the 40^th game that the NHL has had to postpone this season, and while a few of those were because of the storm in Texas last week, most have been due to Covid-19. In a sport like hockey which involves a lot of contact, it is reasonable to expect that this trend will probably continue until every player has either received the vaccine or each NHL division reaches some kind of herd immunity. The situation becomes even more difficult as asymptomatic spread is a factor as a player could show no signs of having Covid and still be contagious. Add in the fact that players have also had false-positive tests this year, like Sammy Blais from the St. Louis Blues, causing him to miss time, and the situation can be very frustrating.

The fact of the matter is that there is no easy answer to these situations as no one wants to have the season shut down like last year, and I believe the NHL is determined not to have that happen. After dealing with the coronavirus for about a year now, it seems that these trials and tribulations are unavoidable. From everything I have read, the NHL and its teams take every precaution necessary to limit the spread, including daily tests, strict sanitation measures, and stricter recommendations for players while traveling and even at home. It has to be extremely frustrating for upper management when you throw in the fact that false positives have been a factor. Imagine spending all the time and resources that teams have done so far to combat the virus to have to postpone a game or sit a player due to a faulty test. As I said before, there really is no easy answer, and the fact of the matter is that teams will have to be open to getting their games rescheduled and shuffling their lineups on the fly.

Another thing that can make the situation more concerning is that there is talk that the Sharks may be shutting down for two whole weeks as they wait for word from the county, as reported by John Hoven of MayorsManor.com.

This leaves us to question if that would mean that they don’t play any games during that period or will they be forced to play and practice at a different arena/facility. If they are not allowed to play for the next two weeks, that would pose a problem for the Knights as they were scheduled to play San Jose three times between now and March 6^th. VGK is scheduled to play in San Jose during those games, so maybe the NHL will decide to have Vegas host those games so that they will not have to be postponed. That is just me speculating, though, as no announcement has been made yet as the situation continues to develop.

As for now, the Knights still have other opponents to play coming up as they are scheduled to take on the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday and will play the Minnesota Wild on Monday and Wednesday. The Knights have yet to play the Wild this season, so I am intrigued to see how those two games play out as Minnesota is one of the better teams in the division. Don’t let their position in the standings fool you as they have only played sixteen games so far, but they are a +10 in goal differential, second in that stat behind the Knights who are a +14. The Sharks‘ situation is out of the Knights control, so they need to focus on what they can control, beating whatever team they do get to lineup against. That starts on Saturday night when they travel to Anaheim to take on the Ducks, who just blew two straight three-goal leads to the Arizona Coyotes.

The Vegas Golden Knights will resume play on Saturday evening taking on the Anaheim Ducks at The Honda Center in Southern California. The puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. and will be on AT&T Sportsnet and FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340.

Golden Knights vs Sharks                 Golden Knights vs Sharks                  Golden Knights vs Sharks               Golden Knights vs Sharks                  Golden Knights vs Sharks                  Golden Knights vs Sharks                  Golden Knights vs Sharks                

-D.J. Wood– Franchise Sports Media

Follow D.J. on Twitter @DJwoody97

Follow The Franchise on social media

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube