SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose Sharks forward Ryan Reaves appeared to suffer a gruesome finger injury in the first period of a 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon at SAP Center.
After a fight with the Flyers’ Garrett Wilson, Reaves skated directly to the Sharks bench, where trainer Will Leonard attended to him. Reaves took one more shift later in the first period, and although he didn’t skate after that, he stayed on the bench for the remainder of the game.
Sharks forward Barclay Goodrow seemed to be fighting back tears when asked about Reaves, who has three goals, no assists and 37 penalty minutes in 50 games this season.
“He’s an unbelievable teammate,” Goodrow said. “He’s a guy that brings it all, every night. Great friend.”
When asked why he was emotional about it, Goodrow said, “He’s the best guy. Even when he’s not playing, he’s there for everyone. He works his butt off every day. I think everyone in the room can learn a lot from a guy like that.”
Mario Ferraro, whose roughing penalty led to the third-period game-winning power-play goal by Christian Dvorak, also touched on Reaves’ impact on the Sharks this season, and what it meant to have him on the bench for the second and third periods as the Sharks are fighting to remain in the playoff chase in a tight Pacific Division.
“He’s one of those guys, he leads on the ice, he leads off the ice, he leads on the bench,” Ferraro said. “I’m kind of getting emotional about it, to be honest. He’s one of those guys that is willing to do whatever for the team, even if that means staying on the bench and he’s not going out there. He’s pumping us up, leading all the time.
“He brings that energy, and we’re really grateful to have had him around this year, and he’s going to continue to help us push for this playoff spot.”
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky had no update on Reaves after the game.
Reaves, 39, is in the final season of a three-year, $4.05 million contract. He was acquired by the Sharks from the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 10 in exchange for defenseman Henry Thrun.