Streaking Sharks face another injury question ahead of game vs. Lightning
SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks defenseman John Klingberg has been playing some of his best hockey of the season in recent weeks but now has a lower body injury and is considered doubtful to play against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Friday that Klingberg’s injury cropped up during the Sharks’ 4-3 shootout win against the Minnesota Wild, as the veteran defenseman had a team-high 25:46 in ice time.
Klingberg has been the Sharks’ most productive defenseman since he was scratched for two straight games before Thanksgiving, with 10 points in 16 games while averaging a team-high 22:10 ice time.
The Sharks (20-17-3) have won their last three games and entered Friday holding the first wild card spot in the Western Conference. Tampa Bay (24-13-3) has won six straight games and is in second place in the Atlantic Division.
If Klingberg is unable to play Saturday, Warsofsky said he’s optimistic Timothy Liljegren will be able to re-enter the lineup. Liljegren has missed the last five games with an upper body injury but was paired with Dmitry Orlov for Friday’s practice and said afterward that he felt good.
Klingberg missed six games in October with a lower body injury not related to his surgically resurfaced hips. He has 16 points in 31 games this season, second-most among all Sharks defensemen. Orlov has 20 points in 40 games.
SMITH, KURASHEV UPDATE
Sharks forwards Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev remain week-to-week with their respective upper body injuries but Warsofsky said the team is optimistic that both will be back before the start of the Olympic break in early February.
Smith and Kurashev, two of the Sharks’ highest-scoring wingers, were both injured during the Sharks’ 6-5 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 13. They have each missed the last seven games, during which the Sharks have gone 4-3-0 to help move into a Western Conference wild card spot.
Smith is still the Sharks’ second-leading scorer with 29 points in 33 games, and Kurashev is ninth with 15 points in 31 games. Smith’s replacement on the Sharks’ top line, Igor Chernyshov, is already tied for 13th in team scoring with eight points in seven games.
The Sharks play 13 games this month, starting with Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and two more in the first week of February before the NHL pauses its schedule to allow its players to compete for their countries at the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy. Sharks centers Macklin Celebrini (Canada) and Alexander Wennberg (Sweden) have both been named to their respective countries’ Olympic teams.
OTHER INJURIES
Forward Adam Gaudette (lower body) did not practice with the Sharks on Friday and will miss his second straight game Saturday. Gaudette was injured during the Sharks’ game against the Anaheim Ducks last week. Pavol Regenda took Gaudette’s spot in the Sharks lineup against Minnesota and had four shots on net in 14:36 in ice time. Regenda is on a line with Ty Dellandrea and Jeff Skinner. … Defenseman Vincent Desharnais (upper body) was closer to a full participant in Friday’s practice and is now more in the day-to-day category rather than week to week, Warsofsky said. Desharnais hasn’t played since Nov. 26 when the Sharks lost 6-0 to the Colorado Avalanche, and has been on injured reserve since Dec. 1.