SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks will be without one of their top penalty-killing defensemen, at least for the short term, as they enter one of the most challenging stretches of their season so far.
Before their game against the Utah Mammoth on Monday, the Sharks placed defenseman Vincent Desharnais on injured reserve and recalled winger Pavol Regenda from the Barracuda of the AHL.
Desharnais, who had become a mainstay of the team’s improving penalty kill, had missed the Sharks’ last two games before Monday with an upper-body injury. His last game came on Nov. 26 when the Sharks lost 6-0 to the Colorado Avalanche, but coach Ryan Warsofsky said Desharnais had been dealing with the injury for some time.
Desharnais will also miss Wednesday’s home game against the Washington Capitals as the Sharks finish a two-game homestand. Warsofsky was optimistic Desharnais could return to the lineup at some point during the team’s upcoming five-game road trip, which begins Friday in Dallas and ends Dec. 13 in Pittsburgh.
The 6-foot-7, 225-pound Desharnais was scratched from the Sharks’ first three games of the season. But he had played in 19 of the Sharks’ last 20 games before having to miss the team’s games against the Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Desharnais has averaged 16:33 in ice time in 20 games this season, is third on the team with 34 blocks, and was regularly used on the Sharks’ penalty kill, which entered Monday ranked 14th in the NHL at 81.1%. Entering November, the Sharks’ penalty kill ranked 30th at 63.9%.
Eight of the Sharks’ next 10 opponents, starting with Wednesday’s game against Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals, were in a playoff spot before Monday’s games. The Sharks entered their game against the Mammoth just outside of a playoff spot due to a tiebreaker.
“He was effective,” Warsofsky said of Desharnais. “We miss him on the penalty kill with his length, obviously, and his size. But he tried getting through it there for a while now, and it just got (to be) a little too much.”
After a slow start with the Barracuda, Regenda had seven points in 19 AHL games this season. He had a strong case to make the Sharks’ roster out of training camp after he had five points in three preseason games, but the math was not in his favor and he was placed on waivers on Oct. 5. After clearing waivers, Regenda was assigned to the Barracuda the next day.
Sharks prospect wingers Igor Chernyshov and Quentin Musty are both playing well for the Barracuda, totaling a combined 17 goals and 37 points in 20 games. But the Sharks wanted to add some size and a player better suited to play a fourth-line role, and it appears the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Regenda will start Monday’s game on the fourth line with Barclay Goodrow and Ryan Reaves.
“In a perfect world, you don’t really want to call up one of those young guys and put them on a line where they can’t maybe get to their tool set,” Warsofsky said. “So there’s a little bit of that for sure.”
Regenda added, “I’m playing with a pretty heavy line, so I’m just trying to … play a simple game, be physical. Don’t do anything crazy, don’t do anything stupid. Just play a simple, north game. That’s what I’m going to focus on.”
Forward Adam Gaudette, who did not take part in the team’s morning skate, is dealing with an illness and is questionable to play Monday, said Warsofsky, who added that the availability of a “couple” of banged-up players will be known closer to game time.
MISA, SKINNER JOIN MORNING SKATE
For the first time since their respective lower-body injuries, forwards Jeff Skinner and Michael Misa joined the Sharks for their morning skate on Monday. Both are slated to practice on Tuesday before the Sharks decide whether to activate either one.
Skinner, 33, was injured in the first period of the Sharks’ game against the Calgary Flames on Nov. 13, and Misa, 18, was injured during the team’s morning skate on Nov. 5 before a road game against the Seattle Kraken.
Warsofsky didn’t say whether Misa, when ready, will join the Barracuda on a conditioning stint or be loaned to Team Canada for this month’s IIHF World Junior Championship in Minnesota. Sharks defenseman Sam Dickinson, 19, is also eligible to play in the World Juniors. The Canadians are beginning their training camp in Niagara Falls, Ontario, on Dec. 12.
