Sharp out with concussion-like symptoms

The injury bug has hit the Dallas Stars again as forward Patrick Sharp went on injured reserve Saturday. Sharp, who missed 14 games earlier this season with a concussion, is back in concussion protocol.
"He has concussion symptoms. We don't know if it is related to the last one," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "He's going to be evaluated, and obviously he is going to be out. It's something he missed a lot of time with and something we want to be really careful with."
Sharp is on IR retroactive to Dec. 1. His injury leaves the Stars with 12 healthy forwards for tonight's game against Colorado. Adam Cracknell and Curtis McKenzie, who sat out as healthy scratches Thursday when the Stars played just 11 forwards in Pittsburgh, will both be in the lineup tonight, Ruff said. The team will address possible call-ups next week.
Defensemen Jamie Oleksiak and Patrik Nemeth are expected to be the scratches tonight. The Stars defense pairs tonight are expected to be Esa Lindell-John Klingberg, Dan Hamhuis-Julius Honka, Jordie Benn-Stephen Johns.
Kari Lehtonen was the first goaltender off the ice, so he is expected to get the start in goal. Lehtonen stopped 34 of 36 shots in the 3-2 win over Colorado in Dallas on Nov. 17.
The Stars come into tonight's game 0-2-1 on their current road trip, which concludes tonight in Denver. Ruff said he's seen the team's play trending in the right direction the past two games even though the results haven't been there in a 3-1 loss to Detroit on Tuesday and a 6-2 loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday.
"We've done a lot of good things in the last two games. The score looked ugly in the last game, but it was really a 3-2 game. We took some chances at the end," Ruff said. "We missed way too many good opportunities. I like five of our last six periods, and we've got nothing for it. We've got to change that. We've got to make sure on some of those opportunities we find the back of the net, and we've got to show some patience when we are chasing the game, so we don't give up the big opportunities."

Avalanche Watch
While the Stars have been struggling on the road, the Avalanche have not fared well at home. They are 0-3-1 on their current homestand which wraps up with tonight's game against Dallas. Semyon Varlamov will get the start in goal tonight for Colorado. Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog will miss his eighth straight game due to a lower-body injury. The Avalanche called up forward Rocco Grimaldi from the AHL late Friday. He's expected to play tonight on a line with Mikhail Grigorenko and Matt Duchene.
Tonight's Game
Who: Dallas Stars at Colorado Avalanche
Where: Pepsi Center
When: 8:00 p.m.
TV: Fox Sports Southwest Plus
Radio: The Ticket 1310 AM/96.7 FM
Stars Projected Lineup
Jamie Benn - Cody Eakin - Tyler Seguin
Lauri Korpikoski - Jason Spezza - Brett Ritchie
Antoine Roussel - Radek Faksa - Patrick Eaves
Curtis McKenzie - Devin Shore - Adam Cracknell
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis - Julius Honka
Jordie Benn - Stephen Johns
Kari Lehtonen
Antti Niemi
Scratched: Patrick Nemeth, Jamie Oleksiak
Injured: Patrick Sharp (concussion-like symptoms), Johnny Oduya (lower body), Jiri Hudler (illness), Mattias Janmark (knee), Ales Hemsky (hip)
Avalanche Projected Lineup
Mikko Rantanen - Nathan MacKinnon - Rene Bourque
Rocco Grimaldi - Mikhail Grigorenko - Matt Duchene
Blake Comeau - John Mitchell - Jarome Iginla
Joe Colborne - Carl Soderberg - Andreas Martinsen
Fedor Tyutin - Erik Johnson
Patrick Wiercioch - Tyson Barrie
Nikita Zadorov - Francois Beauchemin
Semyon Varlamov
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Eric Gelinas, Cody McLeod
Injured: Gabriel Landeskog (lower body)
This story was not subject to approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club. Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.