Sharks captain Nolan held out of Game 2
Associated Press
DALLAS -- Owen Nolan's record-setting season for the San Jose Sharks could be over.
| |  | | | Nolan |
Team doctors forced Nolan to be scratched from a 1-0 loss to the Dallas Stars on Sunday night in Game 2 of their best-of-seven series. Although the team didn't specify his injury, he's had problems with his foot and shoulder.
The Sharks will go back to San Jose for Game 3 Tuesday night, but aren't expecting their leading scorer to be back on the ice.
"I've told the team they better approach it like we're not going to have him for another game this year," coach Darryl Sutter said.
Nolan remained at least somewhat optimistic.
"This is something where you never know what's going to happen," he said. "It's not my decision."
Nolan scored a San Jose-record 44 goals and 84 points in the regular season, accounting for 20 percent of the team's goals. He has six of the Sharks' 20 playoff goals, making him among the overall postseason leaders.
In Game 7 of the first round, Nolan took a slap shot from hard-shooting Al MacInnis on his foot. He also missed the last five regular-season games with a shoulder injury.
He was in obvious pain during a 4-0 loss Friday night to the Stars, taking only four shots and often getting knocked face-first onto the ice. He was limping following practice on Saturday, but insisted he would play in Game 2.
Doctors gave him the bad news Saturday night.
"It's really hard to watch, especially in the playoffs," he said. "It kills me not to be out there."
Nolan's poor health is a big reason why the Sharks haven't scored in either game this series.
"You lose your captain, your physical presence, your leading goal-scorer and your top minutes man," Sutter said. "It's all fairly obvious what he means to our club." |
