Vincent Desharnais is back in the San Jose Sharks\u2019 line-up.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a long road, though, and not without bumps.<\/p>\n
Desharnais\u2019s last appearance was Nov. 26 at the Colorado Avalanche.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-7 defenseman, who will be paired with Sam Dickinson on Monday at the Florida Panthers, revealed to San Jose Hockey Now that he didn\u2019t suffer an injury that game. Instead, it was an elbow injury that he\u2019s been dealing with since last year.<\/p>\n
Desharnais had surgery on an undisclosed elbow: \u201cIt\u2019s just kind of a nagging injury that just kept bothering me, and I thought I was going to be able to come back a little bit earlier, just kind of couple setbacks that that happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he\u2019s healthy now. The San Jose Sharks have missed his physicality and defending, especially on the penalty kill.<\/p>\n
From Nov. 1 to 26, when Desharnais was a mainstay on the San Jose PK, they had the second-best kill in the NHL, a 93.2 percent rate.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve also missed him in the room, where he was an especially valuable mentor to young San Jose Sharks defensemen like Dickinson and Vincent Iorio.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just awesome to see their progression. Some plays that they were not making like two, three months ago, now they\u2019re making it,\u201d Desharnais said, about watching 19-year-old Dickinson and 22-year-old Iorio. \u201cThose guys, they have such good skill-sets that once they build confidence, when they actually feel it on a daily basis, it\u2019s gonna be pretty cool to see, but we see already a pretty big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sharks are hoping that Desharnais can pick up where he left off, and be a big difference on the ice for them, too.<\/p>\n
San Jose Sharks (24-20-3)<\/p>\n
Alex Nedeljkovic will start.<\/p>\n
Lines, per Jamal Mayers, looked like they did yesterday at practice:<\/p>\n
Graf-Celebrini-Smith
Eklund-Wennberg-Toffoli
Regenda-Misa-Chernyshov
Goodrow-Ostapchuk-Reaves<\/p>\n
Orlov-Klingberg
Ferraro-Liljegren
Dickinson-Desharnais<\/p>\n
Nedeljkovic<\/p>\n
Power play groups, per Dan Rusanowsky, looked the same as their last game at the Detroit Red Wings:<\/p>\n
Orlov-Celebrini-Smith-Chernyshov-Regenda
Klingberg-Misa-Toffoli-Eklund-Wennberg<\/p>\n
Philipp Kurashev was part of Sharks practice for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury on Dec. 13 at the Pittsburgh Penguins. Warsofsky told SJHN that he\u2019s still week-to-week.<\/p>\n
Florida Panthers (25-19-3)<\/p>\n