SAN JOSE – Shakir Mukhamadullin will not play Thursday night against the Edmonton Oilers, and it remains unclear whether the injured San Jose Sharks rookie defenseman will be able to return this season.
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Thursday that Mukhamadullin was still being evaluated after he sustained an upper-body injury early in the third period of the team’s game against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.
Warsofsky said Mukhamadullin has been around the Sharks’ practice facility but could not definitively say whether the 23-year-old will be available to play later this month as the regular season winds down. After Thursday, the Sharks, officially eliminated from playoff contention last month, have just seven games remaining. They will play their last game on April 16 at home, also against Edmonton.
Asked if the Sharks were confident that Mukhamadullin could return this season, Warsofsky said, “Honestly, I’m not sure yet.”
Early in the third period of Tuesday’s game at Honda Center, Mukhamadullin collided with Troy Terry in the neutral zone, knocking down the Ducks forward. Mukhamadullin was then met by Anaheim winger Frank Vatrano, who dropped his stick, threw his gloves down, grabbed the Sharks blueliner, and dragged him to the ice.
Mukhamadullin, not expecting Vatrano to come after him, tried to brace his fall by putting his left arm down before the Ducks forward moved over top of him. Mukhamadullin landed awkwardly, and Vatrano skated away as Mukhamadullin sat up and winced in pain as he reached for his upper body.
Mukhamadullin was then assisted to the Sharks’ dressing room by a team trainer.
Mukhamadullin had been playing his best hockey of the season before the injury. In the 10 games immediately after Jake Walman was traded to the Oilers, Mukhamadulin averaged over 22 minutes per game as he played on the top pair with Mario Ferraro.
“I think (Mukhamadullin) just ran into the guy, and I think Vatrano saw it differently and was standing up for his teammate,” Ferraro said of the play. “It’s just unfortunate, the way they went down. I don’t think there’s any ill intent. It’s just unfortunate.
“(Mukhamadullin) has been playing really good hockey. It sucks. I hope he’s doing OK mentally. I know I’ve checked in on him a couple of times, but he’s a good kid. He’s playing well, but it’s an unfortunate couple events that happened.”
Warsofsky said Wednesday that looking back, he might have wanted a more physical response to Vatrano’s actions, saying, “We don’t like what Vatrano does. We should probably handle it a little bit differently, to be honest with you.”
“Our players (will) have to develop some instincts in certain situations,” Warsofsky added Thursday. “But I’ll never tell anybody to fight.”
The Sharks responded on the scoresheet, as Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Alexander Wennberg scored to tie the game and help send it into overtime. The Sharks lost 4-3 in a shootout.
“The way it looks, obviously, we were (upset). I think our response was tying it up and going into overtime and almost winning the game,” Ferraro said. “We had a couple of big hits after that. Maybe we weren’t in there to fight them, but I think we did other things that countered it. In the moment. It was kind of hard to see what actually happened, because it didn’t seem like anything crazy. And then you look at it back, and then you’re like, ‘shoot.’
“But that’s not how the game works, right? Things happen fast, and it’s in the third period. We always want to have each other’s backs, but happened fast, so I think our response in general, of not backing down in the game is sort of a response like that. All year, we’ve stuck up for each other. But I don’t know the intent on the play, so it was hard to react in the moment, especially when you don’t see it until the video.”
With Muhamadullin unavailable, left-shot defenseman Henry Thrun will return to the Sharks’ lineup for the first time since March 8 when he re-aggravated an upper-body injury in a game against the New York Islanders. Thrun, who has missed 13 of the last 14 games, has been skating recently but did not go through a full-contact Sharks practice before Thursday.
“I’m good to go,” Thrun said.
GEORGIEV HURT: Sharks starting goalie Alexandar Georgiev has an upper-body injury and will not play against the Oilers. The injury, though, is not considered serious, as Georgiev skated Thursday morning. Georgi Romanov will start against the Oilers, and Gabriel Carriere, recalled from the Barracuda on Thursday morning, will back him up.
Yaroslav Askarov, who re-aggravated a lower-body injury before Wednesday’s Barracuda game against Ontario and did not play, traveled with the team to Colorado and is available to play with the Sharks’ AHL affiliate on Friday and Saturday. Askarov, who skated with the Barracuda earlier this week, hasn’t played since Feb. 19 when he first sustained the injury.
Related Articles
Sharks goalie prospect has ‘little setback’ as Barracuda’s skid continues
Why, at 29, ex-Shark Walman feels his NHL career is ‘just getting started’
Mukhamadullin’s status unclear after hit; Warsofsky talks lack of response
Will Mike Grier, San Jose Sharks model rebuild after SoCal rival?
Defenseman injured in San Jose Sharks’ shootout loss to Anaheim Ducks
KOVALENKO, KOSTIN SIT: Forwards and pending restricted free agents Nikolai Kovalenko and Klim Kostin will be the Sharks’ healthy scratches against the Oilers. For Kostin, it marked the sixth time in seven games that he’s been scratched, and for Kovalenko, it was his sixth straight game as a spectator.
Noah Gregor will play in his third straight game, and Cam Lund will dress in his fifth straight since he signed an entry-level contract with the Sharks last month.
Asked about his message to Kovalenko, Warsofsky said, “I think every time you’re on the ice, if it’s a practice, if it’s a morning skate, that’s your game. You’re always being evaluated. So we’ll see if they get back in there.”
The Sharks’ homestand continues with games against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday and the Calgary Flames on Monday.
