Defenseman Timothy Liljegren has been activated off injured reserve and is set to play Thursday when the San Jose Sharks face the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, looking for their first win of the season.
Liljegren was placed on IR on Oct. 16, two days after he sustained an upper-body injury in the Sharks’ 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Before his injury, Liljegren was averaging 20:14 in ice time in the Sharks’ first three games of the season.
Liljegren, per Thursday morning’s line rushes, will be paired with Dmitry Orlov against the Rangers. To make room in the lineup for Liljegren, rookie defenseman Sam Dickinson will be a healthy scratch on Thursday. The Sharks also play the New Jersey Devils on Friday in the third game of a four-game road trip that ends Sunday in Minnesota.
The Sharks returned defenseman Luca Cagnoni to the Barracuda of the AHL on Wednesday, creating a roster opening for Liljegren.
The Sharks, per NHL.com, are keeping the same forward lines for the game against the Rangers that they had in Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders. The Sharks out-chanced the Islanders during 5-on-5 play but allowed two power play goals and a second period goal, the game-winner, at even strength to rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer as they fell to 0-4-2 on the season.
Philipp Kurashev will be a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game.
Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic was the first goalie off the ice after Thursday’s morning skate, indicating he will start against the Rangers. Nedeljkovic is 0-2-1 this season with an .890 save percentage.
#SJSharks lines at morning skate:
Toffoli-Celebrini-Smith
Eklund-Wennberg-Skinner
Graf-Misa-Gaudette
Goodrow-Dellandrea-Reaves
Ferraro-Desharnais
Leddy-Iorio
Orlov-Liljegren
Dickinson-Klingberg
— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) October 23, 2025
The Sharks, who entered Friday as the NHL’s last-place team, have now had lengthy losing streaks to start each of the last four seasons. They started 0-5-0 three years ago, a streak that ended with a 3-2 overtime win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, began 0-10-1 two years ago, and started last season 0-7-2.
Dating back to the 2024-25 season, the Sharks have lost 17 straight games, finishing last season with a 0-8-3 record.
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