Matching up

Looking ahead to tonight, this is very much a new-look group of San Jose Sharks. On the first line, Joe Thornton centers Dany Heatley on the left and, on the right, rookie Benn Ferriero, who earned a promotion to the top line after his strong play in training camp and in the season opener. With Joe Pavelski out of the lineup, Patrick Marleau is expected to shift over and center the second line.

Terry Murray talked today about matching up against the Sharks, and against the Thornton line in particular…
MURRAY: “I want to get Handzus out there matching up against Thornton. That is, to me, a pretty good look. But there’s often the double-shifting of a player like Thornton, to get him back as quickly as possible, and if our checking line is playing more than the Kopitar line, that’s not the right thing either. If it ends up that Kopi gets Thornton at times, I’ll leave that.

“I have a lot of confidence that they’re going to be able to match up on that side of the game with them. It’s just part of their role. They’re going to have to play that way on the road, often, and you accept that kind of a challenge.”

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