Meier still day-to-day with injury to lower body
SAN JOSE >> The Sharks could once again be without Timo Meier tonight when they face the St. Louis Blues to close out what’s so far been a disappointing sevengame homestand.
Meier was a surprise scratch for the
Sharks’ game Saturday with the Vegas Golden Knights as the team announced roughly 20 minutes before the start of the first period that he was out with a lowerbody injury and was considered dayto-day.
The Sharks lost the game 4-0 to drop to 1-4-1 on the homestand and enter today in last place in the West
Division with an 8-11-3 record. The Sharks were off Sunday.
Sharks coach Bob Boughner said Meier felt sore after Friday’s game with Vegas. Meier played 15 minutes and
59 seconds, collecting an assist as the Sharks lost 5-4 in overtime to the Golden Knights.
“He was going to be a game-time decision,” Boughner said before Saturday’s game. “We were hoping that he could play, but, nothing serious, I don’t believe. It’s just a day-to-day situation.
“The situation there is that, could he have played and if he played, could he finish the game and get through the whole game? We made that decision to hold him back out of caution.”
Noah Gregor took Meier’s spot in the lineup Saturday as he started the game on a line with Patrick Marleau and Ryan Donato. The Sharks’ second line featured Dylan Gambrell playing with John Leonard and Rudolfs Balcers on the wings.
Meier had been playing some of his best hockey of the season of late. He is third on the Sharks with 15
points, with eight points in his last five games.
The Sharks were also without Tomas Hertl and Marcus Sorensen on Saturday as both players are in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. Rookie Joachim Blichfeld was serving the second game of a two-game suspension for his illegal check to the head on Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon on Wednesday.
Without Meier and Hertl, the Sharks were asking a lot of some of their younger forwards. Leonard, Balcers and Gambrell have a combined 159 games of NHL experience.
“Every night I’m in the lineup I’ve got to look at it as an opportunity to prove myself and help the team win in any way I can,” Leonard said. “Obviously we’re missing two big guys right now and hopefully they’ll be back soon.”
The Sharks’ next games are March 12 and 13 in Anaheim against the Ducks. The Sharks could have Hertl and Sorensen back by that point, although their status remains unclear.