Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson will be out of the lineup indefinitely after he had surgery Monday to repair what was described as a small muscle tear in his left forearm, putting the team in a challenging spot as it tries to stay afloat in the Western Conference’s playoff race.
Karlsson, 31, had the surgery in San Jose and will be reevaluated in mid-March, the Sharks said, with no indication as to when the two-time Norris Trophy winner could potentially return.
Karlsson is fifth on the Sharks with 26 points in 33 games and is third among all skaters with over 23 minutes of ice time per game.
The Sharks (21-19-2) enter Wednesday tied for fourth place in the Pacific Division with the Calgary Flames. The Sharks and Flames both have 44 points, two points back of the Dallas Stars for the second wild-card spot in the west.
The Sharks are also about to start their most difficult road trip of the season with four games against some of the NHL’s best teams.
After Wednesday’s game against the Washington Capitals, the Sharks play the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The trip concludes next Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. All four teams entered Tuesday in the top 10 in the NHL’s overall standings.
“We’re just trying to win our next game,” Sharks captain Logan Couture said. “Once you start to look way too far ahead, that’s when you get in trouble.”
Karlsson did not play Saturday in the Sharks’ 7-1 loss to the Lightning. Coach Bob Boughner said before the game that Karlsson had been dealing with the injury for some time and that he would soon meet with doctors to determine the next course of action.
The Sharks are scheduled to play 16 games from now until March 12, as the team has a 12-day break between games from Feb. 2-13. Nine of those games are against Pacific Division teams.
The Sharks are 1-3-1 in their last five games but are a surprising 5-3-1 this season without Karlsson in the lineup. Karlsson and three other Sharks defensemen missed six games from Oct. 30 to Nov. 11 for COVID-related reasons, and Karlsson also missed games against Detroit and Philadelphia earlier this month because of an oblique strain.
The Sharks are already desperate for offense.
In 10 games since the start of January, the Sharks have scored an average of 2.60 goals per game, tied for 20th in the NHL. They’ve also allowed 3.70 goals per game this month — the fifth-most in the league.
The Sharks’ healthy defensemen are Vlasic, Brent Burns, Mario Ferraro, Radim Simek, Ryan Merkley, and Nicolas Meloche.
Two other defensemen, Jaycob Megna and Jake Middleton, are also on the Sharks trip.
Megna was hit by a shot in the lower body in Saturday’s game and did not practice Monday, although Boughner was hopeful he could be available to play Wednesday. Middleton has missed eight straight games as he recovers from a concussion he suffered on Jan. 4 in Detroit. Middleton skated again Monday morning but is still working on his conditioning, Boughner said.
“Next man up,” Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said Monday about potentially playing without Karlsson again. “We’ve had guys down with COVID, Karlsson’s been out during COVID, missed two games with an injury, now he might miss again. So, the next guy will step up.”
The Sharks will have close to a full forward group available for the start of the road trip. Rudolfs Balcers has exited COVID protocol after he missed the last two games, and Jonah Gadjovich is back after he was injured for the last six games.
Balcers had been out for six weeks with a lower-body injury and had scored in two of three games since his Jan. 13 return, but tested positive for the coronavirus last week.
“Having (Balcers) back it would be big,” Couture said. “He was playing really well before COVID. So hopefully he comes back and feels good and can help us.”
Winger Kevin Labanc, out since mid-December when he had shoulder surgery, could also return in March.
