The Telegraph Two of the surprise packages of this clay-court season have been British – initially Dan Evans, who made a deep run in Monte Carlo, and more lately Cameron Norrie, who played his second final in three weeks on Sunday. Unfortunately, Norrie wasn’t able to land a maiden ATP title in Lyon. But then he was up against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been the dominant force of 2021 outside the slams, and now stands at No 1 in the table of most rankings points gained since January 1. Nevertheless, it had been a hugely creditable effort for Norrie to go this far, especially when you consider that he took out top seed Dominic Thiem on Thursday, and then trounced big-hitting Russian Karen Khachanov in Saturday’s semi-final, losing only two games in the process. Norrie has come to clay late in his career, but it feels like this is developing into his favourite surface. He has one of the heaviest left-handed forehands in the game, loaded with top-spin, and uses it like a miniature version of Rafael Nadal. The result has been a tally of 14 wins and only four losses since he began his European clay-court swing in Barcelona. So while the French Open, which starts next Sunday, has traditionally been a graveyard of British hopes, there are reasons to hope that this year’s event could deliver some more positive results. Norrie’s previous final in Estoril had been a nervewracking affair which he eventually lost on a deciding-set tie-break to the more experienced Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Sunday was more straightforward for Tsitsipas, who needed only 69 minutes to hammer home a 6-3, 6-3 victory. It was Tsitsipas’ second title of the clay-court sequence, after he won Monte Carlo in mid-April, taking out Evans in the semi-final along the way. He has become a serious contender to upset the establishment – specifically Nadal and Novak Djokovic – at Roland Garros over the next few weeks. “I felt in good shape from the beginning of the tournament,” said Tsitsipas afterwards. “I am proud of today’s match, I knew it would be a difficult one against Cameron, who has been showing great tennis this week. He has been winning against good players and showing what the left hand can do on clay. “It was not an easy match today. I had to handle the nerves and I am proud of my performance and the way I stayed focused towards my goal.” On this year’s results, meanwhile, both Evans and Norrie stand among the world’s 20 most successful men. Evans is at No 16 and Norrie No 14. The next challenge for them both is to convert that ATP Tour form into a deep run at a major.<doc-sep>Here's how the Sharks are expected to line up in Minnesota when they face the Wild on Monday. Sharks vs. Wild watch guide: Projected lines and defensive pairs originally appeared on nbcsportsbayarea.com After sweeping a four-game homestand, the Sharks look to extend their winning streak to five games as they travel to the State of Hockey to face off with a potential playoff opponent, the Minnesota Wild. San Jose is coming off a gutsy overtime win over the St. Louis Blues over the weekend. The victory boosted San Jose into first place in both the Pacific Division and Western Conference for a day, before the Calgary Flames beat the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday to retain a one-point advantage in the standings. The Wild currently occupy the second wild card spot in the conference standings with 74 points, sitting just one point behind the Dallas Stars for the first wild card spot and five points behind the St. Louis Blues in the Central Division. Minnesota has gone 6-2-2 in their last 10 contests. San Jose will be without Erik Karlsson (lower-body injury) and Evander Kane (personal matter) on Monday. The Wild continue to play without captain Mikko Koivu, who is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL and meniscus. This is the third time the Sharks and Wild have played each other this season, and San Jose has won each of the previous meetings. In 64 total games between the franchises, San Jose holds a 34-20-2-8 record. Sharks projected lines and pairs: Timo Meier – Logan Couture – Joe Pavelski Joonas Donskoi – Tomas Hertl – Gustav Nyquist Marcus Sorensen – Joe Thornton – Kevin Labanc Micheal Haley – Barclay Goodrow – Melker Karlsson Radim Simek – Brent Burns Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Tim Heed Brenden Dillon – Justin Braun Martin Jones – confirmed starter Aaron Dell [RELATED: How DeBoer made two Sharks fans' day on team's day off] Wild projected lines and pairs: Jordan Greenway – Eric Staal – Jason Zucker Zach Parise – Victor Rask – Kevin Fiala Ryan Donato – Joel Eriksson Ek – Pontus Aberg Marcus Foligno – Eric Fehr – J.T. Brown Ryan Suter – Jared Spurgeon Jonas Brodin – Brad Hunt Greg Pateryn – Anthony Bitetto Devan Dubnyk – projected starter Alex Stalock<doc-sep>The San Jose Sharks rank as the West’s most explosive offense, but Monday serves as a reminder that they can win the sort of suffocating game we’re likely to see more of during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Thanks in part to the Sharks’ 3-0 win, it’s fair to question if the Minnesota Wild will be part of the upcoming postseason. Minnesota simply couldn’t get much going against the Sharks, as Martin Jones pitched a 24-save shutout. Jones has actually shut out the Wild in consecutive occasions in Minnesota. Barclay Goodrow scored the game-winner, while Logan Couture‘s penalty-shot goal served as one of the more exciting moments in what was mostly a tightly checked game. The Sharks have now won five games in a row, also showing that they can win games with Erik Karlsson on the shelf. (Such wins have to make it that much easier not to be tempted into forcing Karlsson into the mix sooner than the Sharks should.) With five consecutive wins, the Sharks are now on top of the Pacific Division with 92 points in 69 games played. It’s not a big edge, as the Flames are at 91 points in the 69 GP, but that’s a clear advantage for the Sharks. Considering how strong the Golden Knights look, finishing second in the Pacific could really sting. That’s especially true depending upon which teams end up finishing as the West’s two wild-card entries. If the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs began on Monday night, the Wild would be San Jose’s first-round opponent, as both the Arizona Coyotes and Colorado Avalanche also lost on Monday. If the Wild wanted to make a series of it, they’d have to dig deeper than they did on Monday, because it seems like the Sharks can win in several different ways. — James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.<doc-sep>Martin Jones turned aside all 24 shots he faced as San Jose moved into first place in the Pacific Division with a 3-0 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Monday in Saint Paul, Minn. Barclay Goodrow and Tomas Hertl each scored, and Logan Couture converted a penalty shot for the Sharks, who have won five in a row to move past the idle Calgary Flames atop the Pacific. Jones notched his third shutout of the season and second against the Wild, as he made 26 saves in San Jose's 4-0 win at Minnesota on Dec. 18. The 29-year-old stopped 73 of 76 shots in a three-game season sweep of the Wild, and he has saved 128 of 137 shots during his five-game overall winning streak. Devan Dubnyk turned aside 26 shots for Minnesota, which began a season-high, five-game homestand by dropping its second straight contest following an eight-game point streak (6-0-2). Blackhawks 7, Coyotes 1 Brendan Perlini collected his first NHL hat trick as host Chicago won its third straight game, thrashing Arizona. Perlini was acquired from the Coyotes via trade in November. Corey Crawford made 24 saves for the Blackhawks, who erased an early deficit with authority by scoring seven unanswered goals. Patrick Kane, Chris Kunitz, Brandon Saad and Jonathan Toews were the other goal-scorers for Chicago. Richard Panik opened the scoring for Arizona. Oilers 3, Rangers 2 (OT) Leon Draisaitl's one-timer 35 seconds into overtime gave Edmonton a win over visiting New York. After giving up an early 2-0 lead, the Oilers escaped with two points thanks to yet another big performance from Draisaitl, who also collected two assists. Draisaitl has 33 points (18 goals, 15 assists) over his past 21 games, and he has recorded at least one point in each of his past 14 games. Connor McDavid assisted on Draisaitl's winner, and he also scored a goal. Matt Benning added a goal for the Oilers while Brendan Lemieux and Brett Howden found the net for the Rangers. Hurricanes 3, Avalanche 0 Petr Mrazek had 38 saves for his third shutout in his past eight games, Andrei Svechnikov had two goals and an assist, and surging Carolina beat Colorado in Denver. Dougie Hamilton also scored to back Mrazek, who is 7-1-0 over the eight-game span. Carolina moved ahead of Pittsburgh for third place in the Metropolitan Division with its 13th win in the last 17 games. The teams are tied with 83 points, but the Hurricanes hold the first tiebreaker. Philipp Grubauer stopped 30 shots for the Avalanche. Lightning 6, Maple Leafs 2 Tyler Johnson and Cedric Paquette each scored twice as Tampa Bay won at Toronto. The Lighting became the fourth team in NHL history to reach 110 points through 70 games. They have won two of three games this season from the Maple Leafs. Anthony Cirelli and Ondrej Palat also scored for Tampa Bay. Ryan McDonagh, Yanni Gourde and Jan Rutta added two assists apiece. Auston Matthews and Connor Brown collected goals for Toronto. Islanders 2, Blue Jackets 0 Thomas Greiss recorded his fifth shutout of the year, and Ryan Pulock and Anders Lee scored in New York's win over Columbus in Uniondale, N.Y. Greiss, who made 31 saves, improved to 3-0-0 against Columbus this season with his 13th career shutout. He also blanked the Blue Jackets behind a 31-save effort on Feb. 14 in Columbus. Pulock scored a first-period goal and Lee added a late empty-netter for the Islanders, who have won three of their past four. Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves for Columbus, which has lost five of its past eight. Flyers 3, Senators 2 Michael Raffl scored a goal and added an assist in his 400th career NHL game, lifting host Philadelphia past Ottawa. Oskar Lindblom and Scott Laughton each scored for the Flyers, who won their second in a row. Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott made 20 saves. Chris Tierney and Filip Chlapik each scored a goal for the Senators, who dropped their fourth straight game. Craig Anderson stopped 33 shots. --Field Level Media<doc-sep>
NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Monday night’s matchup between the San Jose Sharks and Minnesota Wild. Coverage begins at 7p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here. Tonight’s matchup could very well be a playoff preview – if San Jose wins the Pacific Division and the Wild secure a postseason Wild Card berth. The Sharks currently have 90 points, the second-most in the West behind the Calgary Flames (91), while the Wild have 74 points, one point ahead of Arizona (73 pts). The Sharks enter this game on a four-game winning streak and are 13-3-1 in their last 17 games (since Jan. 22). They’ve scored five-plus goals in three of their last six games and are 4-for-12 (33.3 percent) on the power play in that span (San Jose is 14-for-49 (28.6 percent) on the power play since Jan. 22). The Sharks went a perfect 4-0-0 on their recent four-game homestand despite being down some key players. Erik Karlsson and Evander Kane both missed the entire homestand, while Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski both played at less than 100 percent, battling through flu bugs. The Wild won five straight games from Feb. 21 – March 2 but have lost three of four games since then (1-1-2 record), including a disappointing 6-2 loss at the Florida Panthers on Friday to snap an eight-game point streak. The loss followed a 3-0 win at Tampa on Thurs day (before that, the Wild dropped two straight to Nashville in the shootout). Minnesota now returns home for five straight games, where they are just 14-13-6 this season. Minnesota has lost seven of their last eight home games (1-4-3 record). The Wild are tied with the Ducks for the second longest active playoff streak in the league (six straight seasons). [WATCH LIVE – COVERAGE BEGINS AT 7 P.M. ET – NBCSN] What: San Jose Sharks at Minnesota Wild Where: Xcel Energy Center When: Monday, March 11, 7 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN Live stream: You can watch the Sharks-Wild stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app. Story continues PROJECTED LINEUPS SHARKS Timo Meier – Logan Couture – Joe Pavelski Joonas Donskoi – Tomas Hertl – Gustav Nyquist Marcus Sorensen – Joe Thornton – Kevin Labanc Micheal Haley – Barclay Goodrow – Melker Karlsson Radek Simek – Brent Burns Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Tim Heed Brenden Dillon – Justin Braun Starting goalie: Martin Jones WILD Jordan Greenway – Eric Staal – Jason Zucker Zach Parise – Victor Rask – Kevin Fiala Ryan Donato – Joel Eriksson Ek – Pontus Aberg Marcus Foligno – Eric Fehr – J.T. Brown Ryan Suter – Jared Spurgeon Jonas Brodin – Greg Pateryn Anthony Bitetto – Brad Hunt Starting goalie: Devan Dubnyk