Sharks’ Burns questionable vs. Chicago
SAN JOSE – Brent Burns has the flu and could miss his first game in over five seasons Sunday when the Sharks host the Chicago Blackhawks, potentially leaving the team without another one of its Norris Trophy winning defensemen.
Erik Karlsson, the Sharks’ two-time Norris winner, will miss his second game in a row – and 11th of the last 16 – because of a groin injury.
Burns stayed home Saturday as Sharks coach Pete Deboer said there’s a “little bit of a flu bug going through the team.” The Sharks held an optional practice Saturday.
Burns, who has played in 454 consecutive regular season games since Nov. 21, 2013, leads the Sharks with 71 points in 65 games and is in the mix to win his second Norris Trophy in three years. Burns, who won the award in 2017, assisted on Marcus Sorensen’s first period goal Friday as the Sharks earned a 4-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche at SAP Center. Burns also leads the Sharks in average time on ice at 24 minutes and 53 seconds per game.
If Burns can’t play, the Sharks would likely insert Joakim Ryan into the lineup. Ryan’s last game was Jan. 22 when the Sharks were without both Karlsson and Marc-edouard Vlasic in what was a 7-6 overtime win over the Washington Capitals just before the NHL All-star break. Ryan has five assists in 34 games this season.
Deboer said Evander Kane showed some improvement from an undisclosed middle body ailment Saturday. Kane missed Friday’s game and is questionable to play against the Blackhawks. Kane is not expected to be out long-term.
Deboer said Martin Jones will start in net Sunday, Jones, who stopped 22 of 25 shots Friday, is 5-4-1 with a .922 save percentage and a 2.33 goals against average in 11 career games against Chicago.
When Kane does return, and assuming no other forward is hurt in the meantime, Deboer will have a decision to make as to which player he’ll have to move out of his top three forward lines.
Right now, with both Sorensen and Kevin Labanc coming off productive games Friday, it doesn’t appear there are any straightforward solutions to what is a good problem for a coaching staff to have.
“It’s hypothetical. We could have two other guys go down by then,” Deboer said. “Those are problems that hopefully we’ll have to deal with when it happens.”
Sharks winger Gustav Nyquist (14) liked playing with Joe Thornton and Marcus Sorensen on Friday against the Colorado Avalanche. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/getty Images)
Deboer has liked what he has seen from Gus Nyquist in two games alongside Joe Thornton. Friday, Nyquist had five shots on goal and was credited with one blocked shot in 16:05 of ice time. Thornton also had an assist on Sorensen’s goal and has six points in his last six games.
“It’s been OK so far,” said Nyquist, who was moving into a new apartment Saturday. “It makes it easy to play with (Thornton) for sure, and (Sorensen). We had a decent game last night, so keep building and I’m sure it’ll take a couple of games but I feel pretty good out there.” but Sixers forward Ben Simmons split a pair of foul shots to trim the Warriors’ lead to 119-117. Durant then missed second of two foul shots and the ball went out-of-bounds as the Warriors held a 120-117 lead with 2.3 seconds left.
So even if the Warriors collected a signature win over an Eastern Conference contender in the Sixers, the Warriors made little of it.
“Just another regularseason game,” Durant said beforehand. “You look to plug in and get better and get ready for the playoffs.”