SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks will have to go without Mackenzie Blackwood for at least the next week after they placed the goalie on injured reserve Wednesday with a lower-body injury.
Blackwood was injured Tuesday night in the Sharks’ game against the New Jersey Devils, as left the ice late in the first period after he made a save. Blackwood did not return to the game as the Sharks were blasted 7-2 by the Devils at SAP Center.
Kaapo Kahkonen will start Thursday when the Sharks host the Anaheim Ducks to finish what’s so far been a winless five-game homestand in which they’ve been outscored 19-7.
Sharks coach David Quinn told reporters Wednesday he didn’t expect Blackwood to be out long-term, adding that it is not related to any of Blackwood’s past injuries such as with his groin or knee.
“This was just a fluky hockey play,” Quinn said.
Still, the 27-year-old goalie will have to miss the next four games, at least. After Thursday, the Sharks (15-37-5) travel to face Dallas and Minnesota Wild on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, and host Dallas on March 5, as players on IR are ineligible to compete for seven days.
The Sharks recalled Magnus Chrona from the Barracuda to take Blackwood’s spot on the roster. He’ll tandem for the time being with Kahkonen, who entered Tuesday’s game after Blackwood’s injury and stopped 24 of 31 shots, as the Sharks lost by five goals or more for the seventh time this season.
Blackwood, who made 13 saves Tuesday before his injury, has played in 35 games this season and has a 9-18-3 record with a .899 save percentage and a 3.48 goals-against average.
Aside from an illness that kept him out of action for a week after Christmas, Blackwood has been healthy and available for the Sharks all season.
Sharks general manager Mike Grier acquired Blackwood from the Devils last June for a 2023 sixth-round draft pick and subsequently signed him to a two-year, $4.7 million contract.
Getting a fresh start and adjusting his offseason routine, Blackwood had been able to stay healthy, as his workload this season was the most he’s had since 2020-2021 when he went 14-17-4 for the Devils.
“When I first got hurt in New Jersey, I never really treated it properly in terms of waiting until I was fully healthy to start trying to play and play a lot again, so it just kind of compiled,” Blackwood said earlier this week.
“I did my ankle, and then I did my groin and then I did my knee on the other side, just because everything was just overworking each other. So I never really waited long enough for my body to be ready to handle a full 80-game workload.
“After not playing a lot last year at the end, having a good summer of rehab, and changing my training a little bit. It’s helped me feel good again.”
At the behest of some friends, Blackwood incorporated Pilates and core muscle work into his offseason regimen.
“A lot of people recommended (Pilates) to me, so finally got through to me and my stubbornness,” Blackwood said. “I said ‘You know what, sure. I’ll try it out this summer.’ And I did it like three, four days a week and it was good. I just added it on top of my regular training.”
This is a complicated time for Blackwood’s injury.
Kahkonen, a pending unrestricted free agent who could be on the move before the March 8 NHL trade deadline, might now have to take on a greater workload as the Sharks head into a busy month of March.
After this weekend’s back-to-back games, the Sharks play 13 times in 26 days, with one more back-to-back on March 16 and 17 when they play Columbus and Chicago, respectively, as part of a five-game, eight-day road trip.
Kahkonen has a 6-18-2 record with a respectable .901 save percentage in 28 games this season, and his underlying numbers are impressive. Among the 41 goalies who have played at least 25 games this season, Kahkonen, per moneypuck.com, is tops with a .853 save percentage on high-danger unblocked shot attempts.
“You never want to see teammates go down with injuries,” Kahkonen said Tuesday night when asked about Blackwood. “I don’t know what’s going on, but hopefully it’s not too bad, hopefully, it goes away quickly and he’s back soon. He’s a great teammate and a great goalie.”
It’s unclear how much interest other teams have in Kahkonen with the trade deadline just over a week away. If Blackwood has to miss more than a week, would that alter any plans the Sharks might have of trading Kahkonen?
Besides Chrona, Georgi Romanov, the Barracuda’s other goalie, has never played in the NHL and, like Chrona, is in his first season of North American professional hockey.
The 23-year-old Chrona, who was on the ice with the Sharks on Wednesday, is 5-13-4 this season with a .892 save percentage in 24 games with the Barracuda. Chrona has allowed four goals on 29 shots for a .724 save percentage in two appearances with the Sharks, including one start.
Romanov, 24, is 6-7-5 with a .886 save percentage in 20 games.
The Barracuda’s other goalie, Eetu Makiniemi, hasn’t played since Jan. 26 and is currently dealing with an illness, per a team spokesman, with no timeline for a return.
