SAN JOSE — Sharks winger Evander Kane is expected to miss Sunday night’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks, coach Peter DeBoer said, with an undisclosed injury.
Kane sat out Thursday’s team practice for what DeBoer then termed a maintenance day, but he didn’t play in Friday’s win over the Colorado Avalanche because of the injury. DeBoer called Kane’s injury “unexpected" but short term.
The Sharks haven’t said if Kane’s injury has anything to do with Tuesday’s back-and-forth with Zdeno Chara. The Boston Bruins’ defenseman elbowed Kane in the head along the boards, leading the two to exchange punches.
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SIGN UP HERE Chara wasn’t punished by the NHL for the hit.
Kane ranks sixth on the Sharks with 51 points (27 goals, 24 assists) in 64 games played this season.
The Sharks will look to keep their success on home ice going without Kane, as they play a rare Sunday night game. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. at SAP Center, and the game can be seen on NBC Sports California and the MyTeams app.
The Blackhawks visit Silicon Valley at the end of a three-game swing through California, where they defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 on Wednesday but were defeated 6-3 by the Kings in LA on Saturday. Chicago currently sits with 63 points in the standings, seven points out of the wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
San Jose Sharks
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This is the second time the Sharks and Blackhawks have faced off this season, with San Jose rallying from a 2-0 hole in their first meeting on December 16 to emerge victorious 7-3.
Through 98 total meetings between the franchises, San Jose holds a 51-34-5-8 record.
Here are Sunday night’s projected lines and pairs for both teams.
Sharks projected lines and pairs
Timo Meier – Logan Couture – Joe Pavelski
Joonas Donskoi – Tomas Hertl – Kevin Labanc
Marcus Sorensen – Joe Thornton – Gustav Nyquist
Micheal Haley – Barclay Goodrow – Melker Karlsson
Radim Simek – Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Tim Heed
Brenden Dillon – Justin Braun
Martin Jones – projected starter
Aaron Dell
Blackhawks projected lines and starters
Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat – Dylan Strome – Dominik Kahun
Brendan Perlini – Artem Anisimov – Dylan Sikura
Chris Kunitz – Marcus Kruger – John Hayden
Duncan Keith – Brent Seabrook
Gustav Forsling – Connor Murphy
Slater Koekkoek – Erik Gutafsson
Cam Ward – projected starter
Corey Crawford