SAN JOSE – Winger Igor Chernyshov is dealing with an illness and is questionable to play Wednesday when the San Jose Sharks face the Anaheim Ducks in the second game of a critical six-game homestand.
Chernyshov wasn’t on the ice for the Sharks’ optional skate on Wednesday morning but will take part in the pregame warmups before a final decision on his availability is made, coach Ryan Warsofsky said.
If Chernyshov is unavailable to play against the Ducks, forward Ty Dellandrea, who has missed nearly three months with a torn right posterior cruciate ligament, will enter the lineup. Dellandrea was activated off injured reserve hours before Wednesday’s game.
After he returned last week from a head injury he suffered in a March 14 game against the Montreal Canadiens, Chernyshov, 20, had been playing on an effective Sharks’ top line alongside the team’s two leading scorers, Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith.
Chernyshov had two goals and an assist in four games on the top line and has 14 points in 20 games with the Sharks this season. Both of his most recent goals came in the Sharks’ 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, including the game-winner with 1:25 to go in the third period.
Warsofsky would not reveal where Dellandrea, whose injury came in a Jan. 6 home game against the Blue Jackets, would play if he entered the lineup.
Before his injury, Dellandrea had been the Sharks’ third-line center for most of the season, establishing himself as one of the team’s top penalty killers and faceoff leaders. Rookie Michael Misa has mostly been in that role since Dellandrea’s injury, and has 13 points in his last 28 games, although he is on a seven-game point drought.
Goalie Yaroslav Askarov will start for the Sharks, who are looking for their third straight win after beating the St. Louis Blues 5-4 on Monday to open the homestand. The Sharks entered Wednesday in 11th place in the Western Conference with 75 points, two points back of the Nashville Predators for the second and final wild card spot.
The Sharks’ homestand continues with games against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday, the Predators on Saturday, the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, and the Edmonton Oilers next Wednesday.
The Ducks (41-28-5) lead the Pacific Division with 87 points, two more than the Edmonton Oilers. They will be without forward Cutter Gauthier, who had to leave Monday’s game against the Maple Leafs with a lower-body injury. Gauthier, who leads Anaheim with 38 goals and 65 points in 73 games, is not expected to have to miss much more time. The Sharks play in Anaheim on April 9.