SAN JOSE – Will Smith will return to the San Jose Sharks’ lineup on Saturday night against the Buffalo Sabres but fellow forward William Eklund’s availability will be determined closer to game time, coach Ryan Warsofsky said.
It wasn’t immediately clear why Eklund was questionable for Saturday’s game, but Warsofsky said Eklund was not dealing with the same upper-body injury that kept him out of the Sharks’ game against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 18.
Eklund, in just his second full NHL season, is the Sharks’ second-leading scorer with 16 points in 21 games and is second among all forwards in average time on ice (20:22). Used in all situations, Eklund has seven points in his last six games, as he, Mikael Granlund and Fabian Zetterlund have formed an effective forward line.
Smith was kept out of Thursday’s lineup in St. Louis as the Sharks gave the rookie forward his fifth development day of the season. The Sharks lost 3-2 to the Blues in a shootout and have points in nine of their last 13 games after an 0-7-2 start.
Mackenzie Blackwood will start Saturday’s game against the Sabres with Vitek Vanecek backing up. Vanecek has been day-to-day with an upper-body injury he sustained last Saturday in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins but did get on the ice before Wednesday’s game in Dallas.
Yaroslav Askarov will be a scratch for Saturday’s game, but the Sharks will keep three goalies on the roster for the time being. Askarov, recalled from the Barracuda on Monday, started Thursday’s game in St. Louis and stopped 29 of 31 shots. The Barracuda are in Toronto this weekend to face the Marlies.
Warsofsky said he’ll stay with the same defensemen he had for Thursday’s game, with Jack Thompson remaining in the lineup and Henry Thrun being a scratch for a second straight game.
Including Saturday, the Sharks play five times in eight days, as they also face Los Angeles on Monday and Ottawa on Wednesday before a home and home series with the Seattle Kraken on Friday and Saturday.
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Warsofsky said center Nico Sturm is improving from an upper-body injury he sustained in the Sharks’ game against the New York Rangers on Nov. 14, but remains unavailable. Sturm was placed on injured reserve last Monday to create a roster spot for Askarov.