Rangers at Sharks

RANGERS (23-10-4) at SHARKS (20-16-1)

Rangers projected lineup
Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Kaapo Kakko
Artemi Panarin -- Ryan Strome --
Alexis Lafreniere
Greg McKegg -- Kevin Rooney -- Filip Chytil
Tim Gettinger -- Morgan Barron -- Jonny Brodzinski
Ryan Lindgren -- Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller -- Jacob Trouba
Patrik Nemeth -- Jarred Tinordi
Igor Shesterkin
Alexandar Georgiev
Scratched: Libor Hajek, Nils Lundkvist
Injured: Sammy Blais (knee), Dryden Hunt (upper body)
COVID-19 protocol: Julien Gauthier , Barclay Goodrow
Sharks projected lineup
Rudolfs Balcers -- Tomas Hertl -- Timo Meier
Jonathan Dahlen -- Logan Couture -- Noah Gregor
Andrew Cogliano --
Nick Bonino
-- Matt Nieto
Jeffrey Viel -- Jasper Weatherby --
Nick Merkley
Mario Ferraro -- Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Ryan Merkley
Jaycob Megna -- Erik Karlsson
Adin Hill
Zach Sawchenko
Scratched: Radim Simek, Nicholas Meloche , Adam Raska, Lane Pederson
Injured: James Reimer (lower body), Jake Middleton (upper body), Kevin Labanc (upper body), Nikolai Knyzhov (upper body), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body)
COVID-19 protocol: Alexander Barabanov
Status report
Each team held an optional morning skate Thursday. ... Shesterkin was removed from COVID-19 protocol Thursday and could start. ... Goalie Keith Kinkaid was assigned to the taxi squad. ... Fox will play after not practicing Wednesday... Balcers will play his first game since sustaining a lower-body injury on Dec. 3... Bonino was removed from COVID-19 protocol and is expected to play ... Barabanov, a forward, was placed in COVID-19 protocol on Wednesday. ... Hill is expected to start.