Sharks aren’t planning to shut down Erik Karlsson before playoffs

SAN JOSE — Erik Karlsson will be sidelined for the rest of the week. The Sharks aren’t planning to shut him down as an extra precaution before the playoffs.

Head coach Pete DeBoer said after practice on Thursday that Karlsson will miss a minimum of two games with a lower-body injury that he believes is a re-tweak of the groin ailment that shelved him for 10-recent games. At this point, the Sharks are awaiting test results to confirm the nature of Karlsson’s injury.

Karlsson skipped the third period of Tuesday’s game in Boston after he left the ice during the second period, returned and then struggled throughout the remaining 8:20 of the frame. Though the Sharks want Karlsson to get fully healthy from a groin ailment that has plagued him since Jan. 15, the team isn’t planning to shut him down for an extended break leading into the playoffs.

“We’re going to hold him out until we don’t have to,” DeBoer said. “You can’t put this guy in a bubble and roll him out the first playoff game. He’s got to play games when he’s healthy enough to play games.”

Get Sharks news in your inbox. Sign up now for the free Sharks Report newsletter.

But determining when Karlsson is healthy enough to play continues to be a tricky matter.

The Sharks initially allowed Karlsson to log 25:48 of ice time on Jan. 16, the day after he was held off the ice for a large chunk of the third period for “precautionary reasons” in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. On Jan. 19, he jumped off the ice during pregame warmups in Tampa, missing the first of nine consecutive games.

Still, he managed to suit up for the All-Star Game in San Jose in the middle of that month-long stretch.

Karlsson eventually returned to the Sharks lineup on Feb. 16, suiting up for four straight games before he left the ice at 6:56 of the second period in Columbus on Saturday after he re-tweaked his groin. After skipping Sunday’s game in Detroit, Karlsson made the call to play against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. He appeared to re-aggravate the injury again when he attempted a lateral move to defend Charlie McAvoy around the 4:42 mark of the second. He returned shortly after at 11:40, but struggled to skate throughout the remainder of the period, getting burned by Brad Marchand on a short-handed goal and Chris Wagner on a two-on-one play.

Karlsson then missed the entire third period after he limped down the tunnel as the Sharks headed into their dressing room at the second intermission.

“You never want to see a guy come back and leave the game multiple times,” Logan Couture said. “It’s not good for the bench. You’re worried about the guy in the back of your mind.”

Like our Sharks Facebook page for more San Jose Sharks news, commentary and conversation.

Getting a handle on Karlsson’s health status is particularly challenging because of the nature of the injury. The medical staff is heavily dependent on input from the athlete to determine the severity of the issue. Meanwhile, the natural instinct of athletes is to play through injuries and be there for their teammates. They aren’t necessarily the best judges of their own health.

Keep in mind, Karlsson played with two hairline fractures in his foot when he led the Ottawa Senators to Game 7 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals. But muscle injuries are completely different animals. You can’t just wrap it up, jump on the ice and play through the discomfort.

Regardless, DeBoer said the Sharks can’t make a decision on whether Karlsson should play without his input. He indicated that the Sharks will do everything possible to make sure they aren’t re-visiting this issue again in a couple of weeks as they approach the playoffs.

“I don’t think you can ever take it out of the athlete’s hands. Your job is to keep them from hurting themselves. I really think we did that. We were extra cautious the first time,” DeBoer said. “You have to talk to him and he’s got to give an honest assessment of where he’s at, too.

“The answer isn’t, you have no say and we’re going to tell you because he’s the guy that feels it. You’re talking about medical pictures which show little-or-no damage.”

DeBoer refused to put the blame for the latest setback on Karlsson or his medical staff. He said that all parties were “careful not to rush him,” and the setbacks in Columbus and Boston were the result of “unfortunate situations.”

“We know he wants to play, but all along, I don’t think that was the issue,” the Sharks coach said. “This isn’t a guy that got out there because he recklessly wanted to play. He knows the big picture. He knows where we’re trying to go here and what we’re trying to do. It was just some circumstances.”

The good news for the Sharks is that they’ve proven they’re still a top team without Karlsson. Tim Heed has acquitted himself nicely as Karlsson’s replacement, recording three points with a plus-5 rating in his last seven games. As a team, the Sharks are 8-3-1 on the year without Karlsson, putting together a six-game winning streak in February that included road wins over the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames.

Still, the Sharks played at an entirely-different level in December and January once Karlsson got acclimated to skating with his new team. They went 15-3-1 with Karlsson in the lineup between Dec. 2 and Jan. 15 as the two-time Norris Trophy winner led all NHL defensemen in scoring with 26 points over that span.

The Sharks will need Karlsson to regain that form to be the team to beat in the Western Conference playoffs. They currently trail the Calgary Flames by seven points for first place in the Pacific Division standings.

“We just hope that he’s healthy when he comes back and he’s back for good,” Couture said.

— Evander Kane missed Thursday’s practice for “maintenance” reasons. DeBoer said his absence wasn’t related to the head shot he took from Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara on Tuesday.

Chara, meanwhile, won’t be facing supplementary discipline from league for the hit, but Kane made his feelings about the decision known on Twitter, displaying a picture of three blind mice on his feed.

DeBoer, on the other hand, opted to stay out of the fray.

Related Articles Boughner, Wilson explain how they plan to bring Sharks back to contention

Sharks name Bob Boughner coach — now comes the hard part for Doug Wilson

Former Sharks providing full value to Stanley Cup-bound teams

Home sweet home? Giants, visitors at Oracle Park, tie franchise record in win

Sharks will soon make Bob Boughner their full-time coach, per report “There’s such fine lines when you look at those hits,” he said. “How they differentiate those hits, I’m not in that department and I don’t pretend to understand it.”

— Marcus Sorensen returned to practice on Thursday after missing two games in the aftermath of taking a puck to the mouth on Saturday. DeBoer indicted that he’s questionable for Friday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche at SAP Center.

Share this: Print

View more on The Mercury News