Sharks give health update on Brent Burns
San Jose Sharks' Brent Burns suffered an upper body injury midway through Saturday's game with the Dallas Stars
SAN JOSE — Defenseman Brent Burns — injured over the weekend — is considered probable to play Tuesday when the Sharks begin a three-game road trip against the Arizona Coyotes, interim coach Bob Boughner said.
Burns suffered an upper body injury midway through Saturday’s game with the Dallas Stars when he took a hit from forward Roope Hintz. Burns left the game with 10:22 left in the second period but returned with just under 16 minutes left in the third. Burns had a goal and an assist in the game, which the Sharks won 2-1.
“It was sort of an innocent play,” Boughner said. “He tried to hop away from a guy who was hitting and he just got clipped. … He was a little sore yesterday and today. Just double-checking just to be careful with the doctors, but hopefully he’s going to play tomorrow.”
Burns, 34, was at the team’s practice facility Monday but did not skate as he underwent treatment and was checked out by a team doctor.
Burns, who has a 518-game ironman streak that started Nov. 21, 2013, has 32 points in 47 games this season, including four goals and seven assists in the last 12 games. So far this year, he has averaged a team-leading 24 minutes and 52 seconds of ice time per game.
The Sharks can ill afford to lose another core player. They are already dealing with the absence of No. 1 center Logan Couture, who expected to miss another five or six weeks with a fracture in his left ankle.
The Sharks have tightened up their defense and received solid goaltending in Couture’s absence, also beating the Columbus 3-1 last Thursday in their first game without their first-year captain.
“You, knock on wood, hope that it’s nothing too bad,” Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon said of Burns. “A few of us saw him this morning and I don’t it’s anything as bad as we thought it might be. When you lose guys like Logan, guys like Brent, it’s going to be tough.
“But I think that almost kind of plays to what we want to do as a team, is playing (with) that team mentality. It can’t be just a one man show or one guy that’s going to be able to win the game for us. When we had that mindset, we played one of our best games of the year against Dallas.”
The entered Monday in 13th place in the Western Conference, seven points out of a playoff spot with 35 games to go in the regular season.
Asked if he might have to watch Burns’ minutes if he plays against the Coyotes. Boughner said, “Without him, that’s a big hole. (Burns) is one of those guys, you try and limit his minutes, and he’s only got one speed. We’ll see how he is.”
If Burns can’t play Tuesday, Tim Heed, in all likelihood, will rejoin the lineup. Heed has been a scratch the last nine games since Mario Ferraro returned from his injury.
Forward Barclay Goodrow also missed Monday’s practice with an illness, but was slated to join the Sharks later Monday for their flight to Arizona. In Monday’s practice, Joachim Blichfeld took Goodrow’s place on the Sharks’ third line with Joe Thornton and Marcus Sorensen.