Couture hopes to play when Sharks face Sens
The San Jose Sharks should be well-rested since playing their last game. One of their star players, however, may be on the sideline for a little longer.
Logan Couture's status is up in the air for Wednesday night, when the Sharks play host to the Ottawa Senators.
San Jose (15-9-1) is wrapping up a stretch in which it plays seven of eight at home with the only road game down the coast in Los Angeles. The Sharks won six of seven coming into the Wednesday contest after topping the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 Friday.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, the team was given a rare weekend off before hitting the ice again for practice on Monday. The newspaper reported that several players, including Couture, took in Sunday's NFL game between the Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills.
That outing came one day after Couture underwent a minor surgical procedure to have one of six screws removed from his ankle, the Mercury News reported. He had the hardware put in while undergoing surgery in October 2015 on a broken leg.
"I tried to put my skate on (Tuesday) and it was still a little sore, so we'll see in the next couple of weeks," he told the Mercury News. "I'm sure it's going to feel a lot better once it settles down. But should be good. Good to go (Wednesday)."
Couture scored six of his nine goals over the past nine contests, and he ranks third on the club with 16 points.
On Tuesday, the club recalled forward Kevin Labanc from the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League. Labanc, 20, has two goals and two assists in 12 games with the Sharks this season.
Sharks goaltender Martin Jones was selected as the league's third star of the week Monday, and he could get the nod against Ottawa. Jones surrendered only three goals while recording three wins last week, pushing his total this season to 13 victories.
Jones won in his only career appearance against the Senators while with the Kings in 2013.
Ottawa (15-9-2) kicked off a four-game road trip with an 8-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.
"You could tell, really, from the first period that it was going to be one of these games," said Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson, who tied a career high with four points (goal, three assists). He leads the team with 18 assists and 24 points.
Karlsson has four goals and five assists in nine career games versus San Jose.
Three Senators -- Ryan Dzingel, Mark Stone and Kyle Turris -- are tied for the team lead with four goals on the road.
Turris is the club's top goal-scorer overall with 11, including three game-winners. Stone set a season high with three points (goal, two assists) in the loss to the Penguins. Dzingel, though, has not scored in his past four games away from Canada's capital city.
Citing coach Guy Boucher, the Senators tweeted Tuesday night that Mike Condon will get the start in goal Wednesday. In two carer games (one start) versus the Sharks, Condon is 0-1-0 with a 4.06 goals-against average and a .857 save percentage.
Condon, who has two shutouts among three wins and a 1.77 GAA in five games since joining the Senators in a trade with Pittsburgh on Nov. 2, may see plenty of playing time in the near future. The Ottawa Sun reported that starting goaltender Craig Anderson will not be with the team over the next three games in California. Anderson will again be with his wife, who is undergoing throat cancer treatment.
The team recalled Andrew Hammond from AHL Binghamton on Tuesday. He has surrendered six goals in two NHL games this season.
Ottawa is 5-2-1 in its past eight games overall.
The Senators and Sharks meet for the second and final time this season Dec. 14 in Ottawa.
