SAN JOSE – Logan Couture will not return to the San Jose Sharks’ lineup for today’s game with the Toronto Maple Leafs but he could practice with the team on Sunday before it leaves for a five-game road trip.
Sharks coach David Quinn said Saturday afternoon that Couture skated earlier in the day at SAP Center but wasn’t sure how the team’s captain felt afterward.
Couture suffered the injury before the start of training camp and later experienced two frustrating setbacks, delaying his return. Couture, though, has been skating regularly for just over a month after, and indications earlier this week were that he needed more practice time before he returned to the active roster.
Quinn said Thursday that Couture will join the Sharks on the road trip with the expectation that he would play at some point. The eight-day trip starts Tuesday in Toronto, followed by games in Montreal, Ottawa, Buffalo, and Chicago.
The Sharks have lost 10 straight games and entered Saturday in last place in the NHL’s overall standings with a 9-27-3 record.
Couture had 67 points in 82 games last season. The Sharks entered Saturday as both the lowest-scoring team in the NHL at 2.03 goals per game, and the least stingy, with an average of 4.03 goals allowed per game.
The Sharks lost 2-1 to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday but opted not to practice Friday morning. Quinn said if the team had practiced Friday, and still skated Sunday, then that would have meant being on the ice for six straight days, something he said he wanted to prevent.
“I don’t like doing that. Just unfortunate,” Quinn said. “I wanted to practice but when you look at the big picture, you’ve got to schedule it that way. So that was a decision. I just didn’t want to go six straight days. It’s just it’s too much at this level.”
Quinn said the Sharks did gather at the team’s practice facility Friday and held a video session to go over what happened in Thursday’s loss. San Jose allowed a third-period power-play goal to the Jets, and are now 23-for-31 on the kill on their 10-game skid.
QUINN ON STUDNICKA: The Sharks re-assigned Jack Studnicka to the Barracuda on Friday. Studnicka was acquired by the Sharks on Dec. 15 from the Vancouver Canucks but had zero points and was a -6 in nine games as he averaged just over 11 minutes in ice time per game.
“Rewatching (Thursday’s) game, I liked his game. He was playing fast, he skated, was responsible,” Quinn said. “My regret is we didn’t use him on the penalty kill. I should have used him on the penalty kill, especially the way the penalty kill has been going.
“We should have given him an opportunity and that’s the one big regret from my end. So he’s going to kill a lot of penalties down there and keep building on what he did here.”
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