Inside: Hertl could return for March 12-13 series with Ducks.
Sharks coach Bob Boughner said Tomas Hertl has experienced symptoms since he tested positive for the coronavirus but is hopeful that he can return to the team sometime next week.
Hertl, 27, first appeared on the NHL’s COVID-19 list on Feb. 24 as his positive test caused the Sharks to shut down their practice facility for two days and postpone their Feb. 25 game with the Vegas Golden Knights.
“I’ve chatted every couple days with him,” Boughner said Wednesday before the Sharks played the Colorado Avalanche at SAP Center. “He went through a couple of tough days where he had some headaches and some symptoms, but he seems to be improving now and hopefully he’s on the good side of it.”
No other Sharks player had to be added to the league’s COVID list, but a makeup date for the game with the Golden Knights has not yet been announced.
Boughner said last week after Hertl tested positive that the Sharks were not counting on him being back for at least 14 days. Hertl entered his eighth day of isolation Wednesday.
Hertl can end his isolation, per NHL protocols, when at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared, at least 24 hours have passed since he last had a fever without the use of fever-reducing medications, and other symptoms have improved.
At that point, a team doctor or another medical expert must conclude that Hertl no longer presents a risk of infection to others. He will receive, at the end of isolation, cardiac testing.
Also, per NHL protocols, Hertl must refrain from exercise for a total of 14 days from the time of the first positive test, so he will miss at least four more games. After Wednesday, the Sharks host the Golden Knights on Friday and Saturday and the St. Louis Blues on Monday.
If all goes well, Hertl could return for the Sharks’ series with the Anaheim Ducks on March 12 and 13.
The Sharks were 1-1-0 without Hertl going into Wednesday’s game.
“However long that takes him to get back on the ice and get his legs back and get some conditioning,” Boughner said. “But I don’t think it’ll be long after 14 days. Obviously, we need him back in the lineup as quickly as possible.”
• One of the areas where Hertl has been sorely missed by the Sharks is in the faceoff circle, as they’ve won a league-worst 37.5 percent (42 of 112) of their draws in two games without their second-line centerman. In the offensive zone, they had won just 11 of 37 draws (29.7 percent).
Hertl had taken a teamhigh 329 draws in 17 games, winning a team-leading 52.9 percent.
Boughner said the Sharks show their centers video of their counterparts to help them notice certain tendencies and work with them on the ice multiple times a week. He added, though, that the numbers only tell part of the story.
“Sometimes it’s not necessarily getting in there for a win,” Boughner said. “Sometimes it’s tying up and having your wingers come in or sometimes it’s playing for the loss and you’re jumping, playing for that loss in the offensive zone.
• The Sharks inserted Joachim Blichfeld into Wednesday’s lineup and scratched Marcus Sorensen. Blichfeld will play on the Sharks’ fourth line with Danish countryman Alexander True and Matt Nieto.
Blichfeld, who had six goals and nine points in the Barracuda’s first six games this season, was added to the Sharks’ taxi squad Tuesday. True was called up from the Barracuda to the Sharks before Monday’s game with the Avalanche.
Per hockey-reference, there have been only 16 players from Denmark to play in an NHL game. True, 23, and Blichfeld, 22, have known each other for about six years and have been hoping something like this could happen at some point.
“It’s a thing we’ve been talking about a lot at home, and we were saying it would be nice to be in an NHL game together,” Blichfeld said. “So when we saw it this morning, we were really excited.”