Defenseman Mario Ferraro will miss the Sharks’ game against the Carolina Hurricanes today and will likely be out for the remainder of the team’s road trip as he recovers from a scary mouth injury that kept him in the dentist’s chair for a few hours earlier this morning.
Ferraro was hurt Saturday as an attempted shot on goal by Florida Panthers forward Owen Tippett in the Sharks’ zone ramped up Ferraro’s stick and into his face with 14:40 left in the opening period. He immediately left the ice and did not return to the game, which the Sharks lost 5-4 in overtime.
Ferraro, 23, flew with the Sharks to Raleigh late Saturday and work began to try and correct the damage to his teeth and other bone issues early this morning.
“He’s a warrior,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said Sunday morning. “He was in a lot of pain all night. We couldn’t get him fixed up there in Florida, so he had to wait overnight.
“Just to be able to deal with that pain that he was through all night and see him pop out of the chair this morning and come down and say hi to the guys at the team breakfast, it’s the kind of guy he is.”
The Sharks finish their road trip Tuesday in Tampa Bay against the Lightning. Boughner said Ferraro will likely miss that game as well as the team has the benefit of a 12-day break that begins immediately afterward. The Sharks’ next game after Tuesday is Feb. 14 at home against the Edmonton Oilers.
“To see him walking around at team breakfast and getting out of the chair and everything else, I think is a real positive,” Boughner said.
“Mario’s such a tough, tough kid anyway, I think he’ll find a way to get a little rest here and be back sooner than later. But that was definitely scary, seeing that last night.”
The Sharks are already without Erik Karlsson for the next several weeks after he had surgery last Monday to repair a small tear in his left forearm. Karlsson will be reevaluated in mid-March, and for now, the Sharks are without two of their top three defensemen in terms of ice time, as both average over 23 minutes per game.
Ferraro has 11 points in 41 games this season, and the Sharks are 1-2-0 without him in the lineup this year. Ferraro missed three games from Dec. 30 to Jan. 2 when he was in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
Against the Hurricanes, Jaycob Megna will be paired with Brent Burns, and Radim Simek will skate with Nicolas Meloche. Ryan Merkley, a healthy scratch the last two games, will take Ferraro’s spot in the lineup and be paired with Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
Burns played a staggering 33:48 in the overtime loss to the Panthers and Boughner said he’ll try to manage everyone’s ice time against a Hurricanes team that has won five of its last six games to move into first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Carolina (30-9-2) beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Saturday to improve to 15-4-1 at home this season. The Sharks are 1-0-1 on this trip, which began Wednesday with a 4-1 trip against the Washington Capitals.
“Manage ice time and minutes, but more manage our game and not play so much in our end, and tighten up our neutral zone,” said Boughner, adding that wants to see the Sharks, “play more the style and the identity we had against Washington.”
Among the Sharks forward group, the fourth line will have Lane Pederson and Jeffrey Viel playing in place of Jasper Weatherby and Jonah Gadjovich, respectively, as Boughner sought to insert some fresh bodies into the lineup.
However, James Reimer, who saw 50 shots Saturday night, will start again less than 24 hours later against the Hurricanes, who rank fourth in the NHL with an average of 3.51 goals per game. Reimer also stopped 29 of 30 shots on Wednesday.
The Sharks have Zach Sawchenko as Reimer’s backup at the moment as Adin Hill is unavailable with a lower-body injury. Sawchenko has played one NHL game, as he stopped 20 of 21 shots in relief of Reimer on Jan. 2 in an 8-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Reimer played the last two seasons with the Hurricanes, going 29-11-4 in 47 games before he signed a two-year contract with the Sharks as a free agent in the offseason.
“Reims is ready to go,” Boughner said. “I know he had a busy night in the net last night, we gave up more shots than usual against a good offensive team. But he knows that the team needs him and he’s ready to dig in.”
NOTES: Boughner said defenseman Jake Middleton (concussion) will skate again Monday and added there is a chance he will be available to play Tuesday. Middleton was hurt Jan. 4. … The Sharks were credited with 26 blocked shots in Saturday’s game with Matt Nieto having seven and Burns with six.
