Defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin was injured by Anaheim Ducks forward Frank Vatrano early in the third period of Tuesday’s game at Honda Center.
Mukhamadullin ran into Troy Terry in the neutral zone, a play that knocked down the Ducks forward. Vatrano then went after Mukhamadullin, dropping his stick and throwing his gloves down before he grabbed the Sharks blueliner and dragged him to the ice.
Mukhamadullin, not expecting Vatrano to come after him, tried to brace his fall by putting his left arm down before the Ducks forward moved over top of him. Vatrano skated away as Mukhamadullin sat up and winced in pain as he reached for his upper body. Mukhamadullin then stumbled to the Sharks’ dressing room, assisted by a team trainer.
Mukhamadullin, who did not return to the game, received a cross-checking penalty, and Vatrano received a minor for roughing. Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky did not have an update on Mukhamadullin’s health after the game.
The Sharks trailed by two goals at the time of the injury, but responded to the play, as Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Alexander Wennberg scored goals later in the third period to tie the game.
Forward Mason McTavish, though, scored the only goal in the shootout as the Ducks handed the Sharks a 4-3 loss.
Mukhamadullin’s injury came just 35 seconds into the third. But Vlasic scored at the 4:08 mark of the third period to draw the Sharks within one, and Wennberg scored with 3:14 left in regulation time off an assist from William Eklund to tie the game.
Sharks goalie Alexandar Georgiev made 35 saves in a solid performance for San Jose, who next play on Thursday at home against the Edmonton Oilers.
Trevor Zegras, Jackson LaCombe, and Sam Colangelo scored for Anaheim, and goalie Lukas Dostal made 28 saves.
“He kept us in the game,” Sharks winger Tyler Toffoli said of Georgiev. “Obviously, they had a lot of opportunities in the third, and he gave us a chance to win.”
Mukhamadullin had one of his best games of the season before the injury.
His first-period goal came on a one-timer after he took a pass from Mario Ferraro and let go a slap shot that got past Dostal. Mukhamadullin also had a career-high four shots on net in the first two periods, when he had 13:41 in ice time.
Mukhamadullin, 23, had played a bigger role with the Sharks, moving to the top pair with Ferraro, after Jake Walman was traded to the Oilers on March 5.
In the 10 games immediately after the trade, Mukhamadulin averaged over 22 minutes on the ice per game.
“He’s been playing 25, 26 minutes a night, so hopefully he’s not going to miss any time,” Toffoli said of Mukhamadullin. “But if he does, it’s another opportunity for another young guy to come in and find a role and make himself a full-time NHLer.”
After Vlasic’s goal, the Sharks killed a 5-on-3 for 1:36 to keep it a one-goal game. Georgiev made five saves during the Ducks’ two-man advantage.
The Sharks also had a strong second period but were hurt by a slow start. The goals from Zegras, LaCombe, and Colangelo all came in the first 19:01 of the opening period.
“The veterans were good tonight, Barclay Goodrow, Toffoli, especially on the bench. Mario Feerao,” Warsofsky said. “We knew it wasn’t a good start. You can’t give up two breakaways in the first five minutes. It’s kind of inexcusable. You’d have to be living under a rock to not realize what was going on.
“The veterans stepped up and we moved forward.”
The Sharks have recently experienced a rash of injuries to their defense corps.
Henry Thrun (upper body) has missed 13 of the last 14 games, and Vincent Desharnais (upper body) has missed three straight games. Jimmy Schuldt did not make the trip with the Sharks to Southern California after being hurt in the third period of San Jose’s 6-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday.
Jan Rutta (lower body) has not played since January. It is unclear when he, Thrun, and Desharnais might be able to return.