Welcome Sharks fans this season! Yes, we’ve finally arrived at the games that matter and sure enough, the season kicked off with a showdown with the Sharks’ biggest rivals, at least currently, the Vegas Golden Knights. There are several reasons to be optimistic about tonight’s game. On one hand, this is the first game of the season for the Sharks, but this game is the second game of the season for the Golden Knights. That’s right, the planners were kind to the Sharks and decided to start Vegas back-to-back with trips.
Vegas is recovering from a 6-5 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings last night. The Golden Knights trailed early, 2-0 after the first quarter. The team rallied in the second period, tying the score at three apiece, then traded punches with the Kings in the third period before finally going into a shootout. All of this means the Golden Knights might be pissed that the team let a point slip away, or tired because the players had to work so hard to earn just one point. Either way, the young Sharks should be ready to head to Vegas early and often.
For the Golden Knights, look for new addition Mitch Marner to make an impact. The winger had two assists in his debut with the Golden Knights. The real winner so far appears to be forward Pavel Dorofeyev, who finished the night with a hat trick.
Also remember that top defender Alex Pietrangelo is out the entire season due to injury. The Golden Knights signed Noah Hanifin after trading for the defenseman at last season’s trade deadline. The team also has depth players like Jeremy Lauzon and Kaedan Korczak who they hope will fill the role. However, it will now be up to Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore to take over as the top duo in Pietrangelo’s absence.
San Jose Sharks line up for opening night
As for the Sharks, it appears rookies Michael Misa, Sam Dickinson and Yaroslav Askarov will participate in the opening ceremonies, but they won’t be donning them for the Sharks. This makes sense considering Vegas is a bigger, tougher and more veteran team than Saturday’s opponent, Anaheim.
Misa, Dickinson, Desharnais and Askarov stay out late. They don’t play
-Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 9, 2025
That means it will be Alex Nedeljkovic in net and Ryan Reaves on the fourth line.
Here are the morning skate lines, courtesy of Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group:
#SJSharks lines, pairs in D at AM skate
Kugash-Celebrini-Smith
Eklund-Wennberg-offoli
Skinner-Dellandrea-Graphic
Goodrow-Gaudette-Reaves
MisaLeddy-Klingberg
Ferraro Liljegren
Orlov-Mukhamadullin
Dickinson-Desharnais-Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) October 9, 2025
Attackers
Philipp Kurashev – Macklin Celebrini – Will Smith
William Eklund-Alex Wennberg-Tyler Toffoli
Jeff Skinner-Ty Dellandrea-Collin Graf
Barclay Goodrow – Adam Gaudette – Ryan Reaves
Defense
Nick Leddy – John Klingberg
Mario Ferraro – Timothy Liljegren
Dmitri Orlov – Shakir Mukhamadullin
Goalkeepers
Alex Nedeljkovic
Yaroslav Askarov
Vegas Golden Knights vs. San Jose Sharks Lines
As for the Golden Knights, we don’t expect there to be a morning skate, considering the team skated last night in Las Vegas, so we’re guessing the team will have the same lineup as last night, with one notable change, and that’s in net. Adin Hill played for the Golden Knights last night, so we’ll put Akira Schmid in net for the team tonight. Other than that, everything remains the same.
Attackers
Ivan Barbashev – Jack Eichel – Mitch Marner
Reilly Smith-William Karlsson-Mark Stone
Brandon Saad – Tomas Hertl – Pavel Dorofeyev
Brett Howden – Colton Sissons – Keegan Kolesar
Defense
Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin – Zach Whitecloud
Jérémie Lauzon – Kaedan Korczak
Goalkeepers
Akira Schmid
Hill Adin
How to watch Vegas Golden Knights vs. San Jose Sharks on October 9, 2025
This is a “network” game, meaning the only way to watch it is on ESPN+, HULU, or by going to the game. It’s in America. In Canada you can watch on Sportsnet+ or NHL Center Ice as they still have it.
Sharks fans can listen to the game on the Sharks Audio Network.
As for Vegas fans, they can hear the game on FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340.
Puck drops at 7 p.m. PT at the SAP Center in San Jose.
