SAN JOSE — Forward William Eklund will return to the lineup on Saturday when the San Jose Sharks play the New Jersey Devils, looking for their second consecutive win.
Eklund hasn’t played since Dec. 23, when he was injured in the Sharks’ game against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. Eklund will play on a line with center Mikael Granlund and fellow winger Fabian Zetterlund. Granlund leads the Sharks with 35 points in 39 games.
Eklund, who missed four games, is tied for second on the Sharks with 27 points in 36 games. San Jose went 1-3-0 in his absence and entered Saturday in eighth and last place in the Pacific Division with 30 points.
To create a roster opening for Eklund, the Sharks placed defenseman Jake Walman (lower-body injury) on injured reserve. Walman, who hasn’t played since he was injured in the Sharks’ Dec. 21 game against the Edmonton Oilers, skated for a third consecutive day Saturday morning, but it remains unclear when he might be able to return.
Sharks center Nico Sturm, considered questionable to play against the Devils, will be scratched. Luke Kunin will take Sturm’s spot as the Sharks’ fourth-line center. Sturm blocked a shot from defenseman Darren Raddysh in the first period of Thursday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and did not skate Friday.
Goalie Yaroslav Askarov will start again for the Sharks after he made 24 saves in San Jose’s 2-1 win over the Lightning. Since rejoining the Sharks on Dec. 18, Askarov, in four games, is 1-2-1 with a .919 save percentage.
Askarov was recalled from the Barracuda of the AHL after goalie Vitek Vanecek sustained a fractured cheek on Dec. 17 when he was hit in the face by an errant puck that had sailed into the bench.
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