CLICK HERE if you are having a problem viewing the photos on a mobile device
SAN JOSE — The Sharks have won games before without Joe Thornton. They’ve won games in the past without Logan Couture, and most recently, they’ve won more often than not without Erik Karlsson.
But everyone in teal is still adjusting to not having Joe Pavelski available.
The injured Sharks captain isn’t likely to play Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings, and he also might Friday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. That right there would match the total number of games Pavelski has missed in the last eight years, and he already missed Monday night’s loss to Las Vegas.
The Sharks clinched a playoff spot, despite losing all three games on their homestand, but they have fallen three points behind Calgary in the race to finish first in the Western Conference. The winner of that race will draw a wild-card team in the first round of the playoffs rather than opening against Vegas.
Pavelski, out with a lower body ailment, and Karlsson, out with a groin injury, both skated Wednesday morning before the start of the team’s practice. Pavelski stayed on the ice longer than Karlsson did, and said he was encouraged by how he felt. Both players made the trip to Southern California on Wednesday afternoon, although Karlsson will not play in either game.
“Feeling a little better. I feel like if I had to go, I could find a way,” Pavelski said. “Be a little cautious and go from there.”
As much as the Sharks want Pavelski to be available for every game down the stretch to help catch the Flames, they also want to make sure he’ll be as healthy as possible once the NHL playoffs begin in the second week of April.
“He’s going to be fine. But again, you don’t want to rush things unless you have to,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “We’re going to do what’s right and make sure he’s back full time.”
Pavelski did not sound overly concerned the injury would linger between now and the start of the postseason.
“There’s not a specific date,” for a return, Pavelski said. “It’s see (how you feel when you) wake up the next day. Each day’s felt noticeably better. So it’s just about how aggressive you want to be getting back. I believe I can get out there sooner than later, but obviously there’s a big picture that we have in mind as well.
“I don’t think this is something you want to be lingering. We’ve got a couple little injuries now, but this team will bounce back for sure. We’ve played good hockey all year. There’s a couple areas we can tighten up. Going through some of the runs we’ve been through here, one thing that always sticks out is good health for teams that win. Especially at crucial times, it’s nice to be healthy.”
Pavelski stayed in the lineup even as he battled an injury to his hand/wrist at the end of the 2016-17 season, a malady that carried over into the following year. Since he’s started this season fully healthy, Pavelski has a team-leading 37 goals and is third with 63 points.
“He’s been injured, but he’s just played through things,” Couture said of Pavelski. “It’s a testament to what guys play through in this dressing room. We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of our best players play through a lot of injuries and not miss many games. It’s one the reasons we’ve been successful.”
“It was a nice run of good health and playing through a few issues along the way,” Pavelski said. “Hopefully we can go another eight years.”
Gus Nyquist remained as the left winger on Couture’s line with Timo Meier on the right wing for Wednesday’s practice, and was also on the Sharks’ top power play unit with Couture, Tomas Hertl, Kevin Labanc and Brent Burns. The second power play unit featured Thornton, Meier, Evander Kane, Marcus Sorensen and Tim Heed.
“I love to be out there on the power play, and now I’ve got to show that I can do a good job up there to step in for (Pavelski) while he’s out,” said Nyquist, who had five points in 10 games with San Jose.
Nyquist was more stationed in the slot Wednesday, with Hertl as the net-front presence, Burns on the blue line and Couture and Labanc on the half-wall on opposite sides.
“(Pavelski’s) a righty in front and now we add Gus, who’s a lefty,” Couture said. “That makes two lefties in front of the net, so you have to take that extra second to realize you’re passing to a lefty instead of a righty.”
