A positive step: Karlsson back on ice for twirl
Star defenseman skates without pain; Kane returns after 3 games
SAN JOSE >> Evander Kane and Erik Karlsson were back on the ice Saturday, but only Kane was well enough to play in the Sharks’ showdown with the Nashville Predators.
Karlsson isn’t close to rejoining the lineup, but he took a big step in that direction at the optional morning skate, spending about 30 minutes on the ice. The two-time Norris Trophy winner skated figure eights around the faceoff circles, practiced hard stops and zipped around the rink a few times in a full sprint — all without setting himself back from the groin injury that has caused him to miss
18 of the last 23 games.
“Good sign. Out there, no setbacks. No pain,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “First step, obviously. We’re not close yet.”
Saturday’s twirl marked the first time Karlsson has skated since Feb. 26 when he aggravated the injury during a game in Boston. The problem first surfaced Jan. 15, and Karlsson missed nine games. He returned for four games, tweaking the groin in Columbus on Feb. 23. He sat out the next night in Detroit, then made the decision to play in Boston.
Last week, Karlsson guaranteed he’d be ready for
Stanley Cup playoffs, which begin April 10. The Sharks aren’t setting a timetable.
In Karlsson’s absence, the Sharks were 14-4-1 entering Saturday’s game. KANE IN, DONSKOI OUT >> Kane’s return after three games marked the first time the Sharks had fully healthy forward group available since Gus Nyquist joined the team at the trade deadline. In other words, someone was going to get bumped from the lineup, and it turned out to be Joonas Donskoi.
Donskoi’s omission from the lineup wasn’t a complete surprise. Last week, DeBoer put Donskoi on alert that his spot in the lineup could be in jeopardy if he didn’t pick up his play. The Finnish forward has earned just four points in his last 14 games while skating in a top-six role.
“He’s done enough in those droughts to be in the lineup and still be an important part so far,” DeBoer said on March 8. “But you’re in the last 20 games, and if we get healthy, there’s a lot of healthy bodies around here.”
In the aftermath of DeBoer’s warning, Donskoi got benched for the entire third period of Monday’s win over the Minnesota Wild and a significant chunk of the third in Thursday’s loss to the Florida Panthers.
• The Sharks reassigned Lukas Radil to the AHL Barracuda on Friday, but DeBoer insists the move isn’t a punishment. The organization just wants Radil to get some action so he’s sharp in case he’s needed down the stretch or in the playoffs.
The 28-year-old journeyman had served as a healthy scratch in 14 of 19 games since the All-Star break. He last played Feb.
24.
Radil scored Saturday in his first game with the Barracuda, a 3-2 loss to Colorado.
The Sharks also reassigned Dylan Gambrell and Jacob Middleton to the farm club for this weekend’s two-game set at the Tank.
“Both of those guys, we wanted to get games. It’s been a long time,” DeBoer said, referring to Radil and Gambrell. “We know we’re going to need all these guys at different points. Hopefully, we go deep enough and we want to keep them game ready.”
DeBoer said that Radil’s only marching order with the Barracuda is to “play.”
“Get his timing back, get his game feel back,” the Sharks coach said. “You can practice and mimic that as much as you want, but it’s not the same thing. It’s confidence, too. You go down there, you’re touching the puck more, you’re getting more shots. You’re doing things that you don’t get to do up here as much.”
Radil played a major
role in the Sharks’ midseason turnaround, recording 10 points in 20 games after he made his NHL debut Nov. 23. At one point, Radil climbed up to the Sharks second line, skating on Logan Couture’s left wing for 10 games after the Christmas break, a move that initially enabled Tomas Hertl’s shift from wing to center. But after he recorded four points in his first six games on Couture’s line, Radil’s production dropped sharply. The Czech forward hasn’t registered a point in his last 12 NHL games.
“I was happy with him,” DeBoer said. “He did a real good job for a couple months. We got healthy, we got some guys back. It’s just, we’re deep. He’s an NHL player.”