Mukhamadullin’s status unclear after hit; Warsofsky talks lack of response ...0

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks said defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin was still being evaluated Wednesday, a day after he sustained an upper-body injury early in the third period of the team’s game against the Anaheim Ducks.

Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky did not offer any details on Mukhamadullin and did not say whether the rookie defenseman would have to miss Thursday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers at SAP Center.

“We’re not sure yet,” if Mukhamadullin would have to miss Thursday’s game, Warsofsky said. “He’s still seeing our doctors.”

After he hit Ducks Troy Terry in the neutral zone, a play that knocked down the Ducks forward, Mukhamadullin was grabbed by Anaheim winger Frank Vatrano, who dropped his stick and threw his gloves down, grabbed the Sharks blueliner and dragged him to the ice.

Mukhamadullin, not expecting Vatrano to come after him, tried to brace his fall by putting his left arm down before the Ducks forward moved over top of him. Mukhamadullin landed awkwardly, and Vatrano skated away as Mukhamadullin sat up and winced in pain as he reached for his upper body. Mukhamadullin was then assisted to the Sharks’ dressing room by a team trainer.

Mukhamadullin, who did not return to the game, received a cross-checking penalty, and Vatrano received a minor for roughing.

Warsofsky said the collision between Mukhamadullin and Terry didn’t warrant that kind of response from Vatrano.

“I thought (Mukhamadullin) kind of ran into (Terry). It’s probably a marginal call at best,” Warsofsky said.

The Sharks, in turn, did not immediately pursue Vatrano, something that Warsofsky would have liked to see from his team, looking back.

“We don’t like what Vatrano does, probably wish we would have handled it a little bit differently,” he said. “But it’s something that, as a young group, we’re learning.”

A more physical response, perhaps?

“You look back and you probably say yes,” Warsofsky said. “But in the moment, we’re down a goal or two goals, we’re trying to come back and win the hockey game. We have some young players that are just trying to find their way in this league, and that takes a lot of feel.

“I think early in the year, we’ve done a really good job of sticking up for teammates. Our team has changed quite heavily here, and we have to develop that again and start to have a feel for that and learn that process that takes place. And we will, the young players will, and I think we’ll learn from that and go forward,”

The Sharks trailed by two goals at the time of the injury, but responded to the play, as Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Alexander Wennberg scored goals later in the third period to tie the game. Forward Mason McTavish, though, scored the only goal in the shootout as the Ducks handed the Sharks a 4-3 loss.

Mukhamadullin had one of his best games of the season before the injury.

His first-period goal came on a one-timer after he took a pass from Mario Ferraro and let go a slap shot that got past Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal. Mukhamadullin also had a career-high four shots on net in the first two periods, when he had 13:41 in ice time.

Mukhamadullin, 23, had been playing a bigger role with the Sharks recently, as Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky moved him to the top pair with Ferraro after Jake Walman was traded to the Oilers on March 5.

In the 10 games immediately after the trade, Mukhamadulin averaged over 22 minutes on the ice per game.

“He’s been playing 25, 26 minutes a night, so hopefully he’s not going to miss any time,” Sharks winger Tyler Toffoli said of Mukhamadullin. “But if he does, it’s another opportunity for another young guy to come in and find a role and make himself a full-time NHLer.”

The Sharks have recently experienced a rash of injuries to their defense corps.

Henry Thrun (upper body) has missed 13 of the last 14 games, and Vincent Desharnais (upper body) has missed three straight games. Jimmy Schuldt did not make the trip with the Sharks to Southern California after being hurt in the third period of San Jose’s 6-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday.

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Jan Rutta (lower body) has not played since January. He, Thrun and Desharnais are all skating, but it is unclear when any of them might be able to return. Thrun is the closest, Warsofsky said, but he’ll be a game-time decision to play against the Oilers.

“We’re obviously under the injury bug at the wrong time, and we’re banged up,” Warsofsky said, “but again, it’s another opportunity for someone to play some more minutes. Muck has been playing pretty good hockey.”

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