Sharks forward opens up about his removal from lineup

SAN JOSE — Joonas Donskoi scored one of the most iconic goals in Sharks history during the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. Now, as the Sharks prepare to make another run at hockey’s coveted prize, Donskoi finds himself as the odd man out, waiting for another opportunity to crack the lineup.

Sharks coach Pete DeBoer put Donskoi on alert last week that he was at risk of losing his spot once the team’s forward group returned to full health for the first time since it acquired Gus Nyquist in a trade deadline deal Feb. 24. With Evander Kane’s return from a bereavement absence Saturday, DeBoer followed through on his warning, scratching Donskoi, who played such a key role during the Sharks run to the final in 2016, scoring the overtime winner in Game 3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“I’m not happy, obviously. Nobody wants to be out, but I’ve gotten the message,” Donskoi said. “I know that I haven’t been playing my best lately and that’s a good wakeup call. I need to get back on track when I get back into the lineup.”

Throughout most of the winter, it looked like Kevin Labanc would be the guy caught on the outside looking in if the Sharks decided to add a forward at the trade deadline. Labanc spent a large chunk of the first half in DeBoer’s doghouse, receiving a handful of demotions to the fourth line as he struggled to stay out of the penalty box and display consistency in his game management and defensive play.

But after DeBoer asked Labanc to prove that he belongs in the Sharks lineup during the all-star break, the third-year forward delivered, racking up in 18 points in 20 games to open the second half. As a result, when the Sharks traded for Nyquist on the eve of the trade deadline, the focus suddenly shifted to Donskoi, who recorded just four points in 14 games before he was scratched on Saturday.

DeBoer benched Donskoi in the third period of the Sharks win over the Minnesota Wild on March 11 and he kept him off the ice for a significant portion of the last frame in Thursday’s loss to the Florida Panthers. Donskoi last scored a goal on Jan. 10.

“It was a tough decision to sit him because I don’t think his play had dropped right off the table,” DeBoer said. “A few weeks ago, it might have. I thought he was starting to come back a bit. But we’ve got depth and we’ve got tough decisions to make. Hopefully, he forces us to make sure that he’s not part of that group anymore.”

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With Donskoi, the problem is never lack of effort. The Finnish forward is a streaky player because his confidence often ebbs and flows based on his offensive production, a mindset he’s trying to recalibrate. When Donskoi slumps, he tends to get stuck in his own head, thinking on the ice instead of attacking. Then, the issue snowballs in a way where it starts to infect his 200-foot game in addition to his production on the scoresheet.

“Some of that’s confidence,” DeBoer acknowledged. “Unfortunately, you can’t sit around and wait for months for a guy’s confidence to click in. As a pro, you’ve got to find a way to make sure those times when the confidence is going, and when it isn’t, are closer together.”

As Donskoi awaits his opportunity to rejoin the lineup, he’s working hard after practice with assistant coaches Dave Barr and Rob Zettler to stay sharp. He’s also taking a page out of Kane’s book, rewatching videos of his best goals to give himself a reminder of what things look like when he’s on top of his game. The 2016 Stanley Cup Final might be a good place to start.

“He’s obviously going through a bit of a scoring slump and I’ve had my fair share of those, as well,” Kane said. “One thing that I would say to do, which I’ve done, is watch old highlights. I’ll watch three seasons, every single goal I’ve scored, just to mentally see myself score a goal.

“It makes you feel better. It helps. When you see yourself doing it, and can envision doing it, it translates into the game.”

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But Donskoi knows that there aren’t any switches he can flip to magically regain his mojo. Instead, he’s aiming to take the approach that worked for Timo Meier when he produced just three goals in a 31-game span from Dec. 16 to Feb. 26. Meier said he focused on the small detaIls, and eventually, the offense returned.

“You’ve got to earn it back,” Donskoi said. “There aren’t any shortcuts to get confidence. You’ve got to get back to that fourth line mentality: work hard, win battles, do the small things right. You’ve got to start building it step by step. That’s how it works.”

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Sharks will soon make Bob Boughner their full-time coach, per report At this point, it’s unlikely that Donskoi will rejoin the lineup against the Vegas Golden Knights at SAP Center on Monday. DeBoer is open to the idea of plugging Donskoi onto his fourth line to give it an injection of speed and skill when the match up is right. But he’s hesitant to tinker with the identity of his bottom unit considering that the Sharks are 8-4 since Micheal Haley’s addition to the lineup on Feb. 21.

Haley also boasts a 52.90 percent Corsi rating with the Sharks and the fourth line has only been on the ice for two goals against in the 12 games since he rejoined the lineup. It’s hard to imagine that he won’t be out there on Monday to serve as a counterweight to Golden Knights agitator Ryan Reaves.

“I don’t think it’s an accident that we won six in a row when Haley started to come into the lineup and play in some tough buildings,” DeBoer said. “I know people minimize that. I don’t care and I know our players understand the value of that in our lineup. Those are decisions we make every night. If we were playing Detroit last night, maybe (Donskoi) does play on the fourth line.”

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