Sharks hope for Pavelski’s return before Game 7 against Avalanche

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski was having eight staples put into his bloody head when his team staged an epic comeback in Game 7 of the opening round against the Golden Knights.

Now that the Sharks have been forced into another ultimate game after missing a chance to eliminate Colorado in an overtime loss on the road, they are hopeful of getting their leader back on the ice for the first time since then.

Perhaps the biggest question heading into Game 7 at the Shark Tank on Wednesday night is whether Pavelski will be healthy enough to make a dramatic return against the Avalanche. Coach Peter DeBoer said that will happen as soon as doctors give him the OK.

“I’m not hiding anything,” DeBoer said Tuesday. “He’s day to day. He’s getting better every day. We’re going to make a decision on game days whether he’ll be available or not.”

Pavelski’s injury happened midway through the third period in Game 7 against the Knights on April 23 with San Jose trailing 3-0. He was cross-checked by center Cody Eakin after a faceoff and then bumped by center Paul Stastny before falling awkwardly to the ice head first. The impact of Pavelski’s helmet slamming the ice knocked him out briefly and caused him to bleed from his head.

A dazed Pavelski was helped off the ice by his teammates and needed staples to stop the bleeding. While that was going on, his teammates scored four power-play goals after a controversial major penalty was assessed to Eakin that even Pavelski acknowledged was not warranted.

Eakin later admitted that when he first left the penalty box, he thought he was getting a reprieve and not a game misconduct.

“They said ‘No, you’re gone,’” Eakin said April 25. “I went right to the room where all the extra guys were watching it. I watched the replay. I figured out pretty quickly exactly what happened. I watched it about 20 times and went to the locker room, sat there and watched the rest of the game.”

San Jose won on Barclay Goodrow’s overtime goal to advance. Pavelski was unable even to travel to Colorado for Games 3 and 4, but returned to the ice while his teammates were away last week. He made an emotional appearance at the Shark Tank during the third period of Game 5 to fire up the crowd and traveled to Denver for Game 6, where he took part in the morning skate.

“It still really is day-to-day,” Pavelski said before Game 6. “Wish I had a set-in-stone answer — go here, do this and be ready. We’re taking everything into play.”

Now the Sharks hope he joins them for their second Game 7 is as many series so they can deny Colorado its first appearance in the conference finals since 2002. Getting there hasn’t been easy for the Avalanche. They had to knock off the top seed in the West, Calgary, in the first round and has never led in this series with the Sharks taking all the odd-numbered games and Colorado answering after that.

Even the Game 6 win at home proved treacherous with the Avalanche blowing a one-goal lead three times before finally winning on Landeskog’s overtime goal.

“We knew it wasn’t supposed to be easy, nobody said it was going to be,” Landeskog said. “For us we try to reload. As frustrating as it was to keep losing those leads we tried to reset and go back at it.”

Facing elimination isn’t a new feeling for the Sharks, who won three win-or-go-home games in the first round against the Knights when they overcame a 3-1 series deficit for the first time in franchise history.

This veteran team is playing its third Game 7 at home in the past four years, having beaten Nashville in the second round in 2016 and the Knights two weeks ago.