Sharks' Wingels skates, hopes to face Canadiens

Saturday, 10.26.2013 / 2:02 PM

By Arpon Basu - Managing Editor LNH.com / 2013-2014 At the Rink Blog

E-mail

MONTREAL – San Jose Sharks forward Tommy Wingels took part in the morning skate and hopes to play against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

Wingels left the Sharks' 2-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Thursday night in the first period after taking a hit in the corner from Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara.

Wingels, who has two goals and four assists in 10 games this season, took part in the skate Saturday with no restrictions and said afterwards he was "feeling good" but that no decision had been made in regards to his status.

"We'll make a decision here once he's reviewed by the doctors and the training staff," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "He skated today and he's feeling pretty good, so we're hoping he can play."

The Sharks will definitely be without forward Brent Burns, who returned to San Jose from Boston and did not make the trip to Montreal as he deals with his second mouth injury of the season after taking a stick in that area against Calgary on Oct. 19.

Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle skated with his teammates but is not ready to return to action after he was injured by a hit from Maxim Lapierre of the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 15. There is no timeline for Boyle's return. Lapierre was suspended five games for the hit.

The Canadiens shouldn't have any lineup changes from the group that defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 on Thursday.

The matchup in goal pits two hopefuls for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Antti Niemi of the Sharks against Carey Price of the Canadiens.

Here is what the lineup could like Saturday night, assuming Wingels is able to play:

SHARKS

Tyler Kennedy – Logan Couture – Patrick Marleau

Freddie Hamilton – Joe Thornton – Tomas Hertl

Matthew Nieto – Joe Pavelski – Tommy Wingels

John McCarthy – Andrew Desjardins – Mike Brown

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun

Brad Stuart – Scott Hannan

Matt Irwin – Jason Demers

Antti Niemi