Sharks take on Vegas in pivotal Game 3.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic missed Game 3 of the Sharks’ openinground playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday night in Las Vegas with an undisclosed injury, and it remains uncertain when the veteran defenseman might be able to return.
Sharks coach Pete DeBoer did not provide an update Sunday morning on Vlasic, who missed nearly all of the final two periods of Friday’s Game 2 after he blocked a shot by Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore.
Vlasic, 32, was on the ice helping to kill a penalty to center Logan Couture when he was struck by Theodore’s shot near the head and neck area, although DeBoer did not wish to disclose where exactly Vlasic was hit. Vlasic left the game after the first minute of the second period and did not return.
The Golden Knights won the game 5-3 to tie the best-of-seven series 1-1. Game 4 is Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena and Game 5 is Thursday at SAP Center in San Jose.
Without Vlasic, the Sharks inserted Tim Heed into the lineup for Game 3. Heed, 28, came to the Sharks organization from his native Sweden before the start of the 2016-17 season but had never before dressed for an NHL playoff game.
Heed played in just 37 regularseason
games this year, collecting 13 points and averaging 14 minutes and 22 seconds of ice time per game.
“I thought he had a great season,” DeBoer said of Heed. “You can take a week here or a week there, and say it was great or it wasn’t great. But when you look at the entirety of the season and his
development, he showed everybody he’s an NHL defenseman.”
Heed was set to be paired with Justin Braun for the start of Sunday’s game. The Sharks did not make any other lineup changes.
“You want to play when it all matters, and that’s the time right now,” Heed said Saturday before the Sharks flew to Las Vegas.
“That’s what you work for, to play those games.”
Vlasic, who has gained a reputation as one of the NHL’s top shutdown defensemen over the course of his 13-year career, had 25 points in 72 regular season games this year and averaged 21:03 of ice time. He is also the Sharks’ most experienced playoff
defenseman, having appeared in 126 postseason games.
In Game 1 on Wednesday, a 5-2 Sharks win, Vlasic had a goal and an assist and played 23:08.
The last time Vlasic missed a playoff game was in 2014, when he had to sit out the final two games of the Sharks’ first round series against Los Angeles with upper body and knee injuries resulting from hit by Kings forward Jarret Stoll.
After the Sharks won the first three games of that series, the Kings won the final four to advance to the second round. Los Angeles later went on to win the Stanley Cup.
The Sharks were already dealing with another injury to their defense corps, as Radim Simek suffered damage to the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee March 12 in a game against the Winnipeg Jets.
He is likely out for the season.