The defense Jan Rutta will return to the alignment on Friday night when the San Jose Sharks face the Edmonton Oilers in Rogers Place, seeking to finish a losing streak of seven games.
Rutta has been practicing in recent days, but was played for the last time on January 23 when the sharks faced Nashville predators and the last 27 games with an injury at the bottom of the body has been lost.
Rutta, who was in an injured reserve, returns two days after defense Mario Ferraro suffered a broken ankle in the 8-7 defeat in extra time of the sharks against Minnesota Wild on Wednesday. Ferraro blocked a Matt Boldy shot at the end of the second period while standing near the shark network.
The Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said on Friday morning that his defense matches for the game, the fourth to best in San José, had not yet been completed. This season, Rutta, who plays mainly on a third pair role, has eight points in 51 games, averaging 17 minutes in ice time.
The goalkeeper Georgi Romanov, who still looks for his first victory in the NHL, is scheduled to start Friday’s game. Romanov faced the Oilers on April 3 and made 35 rescues in a loss of 3-2 sharks. For the season, Romanov is 0-4-0 with a savings percentage of .873.
The oilers have lost two of their last three games and entered Friday in third place in the Pacific division with 95 points, four points behind Los Angeles in second place. Both oilers and kings have four removable games.
The sharks enter five points behind the Chicago Blackhawks for the 31st place in the NHL on Friday. To avoid finishing in the 32nd and the last place for the second consecutive season, the sharks would have to pick up at least six points in their removable games and make the Blackhawks lose the last three games in the regulation time.
Whicever Team ends in 32nd will have the best opportunity (25.5%) to win the NHL draft lottery next month. No team has ended in the last place in general since the Buffalo Sabres brought at the end in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
The Sabres have not yet reached the playoffs since 2011, when the general manager of the sharks, Mike Grier, now 50, was on the Buffalo list. Sharks have now lost playoffs in six consecutive seasons.
Wennberg update: The end of the Alexander Wennberg sharks confirmed to the Swedish news media hockeysige. The tournament is being co-elanfitrion by Stockholm, the hometown of Wennberg and Herning, Denmark.
The end of the Sharks, William Eklund, recently confirmed that he will also play for the duration of Sweden in the tournament. Last week, it was announced that Warsofsky would be the chief coach of the use of the uses. The event extends from May 9 to 25.