Douglas Murray was placed on the injured reserve today. In his stead, defenseman Matt Irwin from the Worcester Sharks was recalled. Irwin has 7 goals and 9 assists in 21 games played this season, with six of those goals coming on the power play. Considering San Jose's uncharacteristic struggles with the man advantage as of late, adding a left handed defenseman into the fold to increase the danger of one-timers at the point can only be considered a good thing as the Sharks attempt to avoid falling even deeper into a rut that has plagued their game over the last two weeks.
Antti Niemi is expected to start against his former team. No word on whether or not Irwin manages to get into the lineup (as he may have been recalled in order to provide insurance in the event of a pregame injury). My guess is that he replaces Colin White on the blueline, but we'll find out more as we move closer to puck drop.
Some more assorted links to tide you over before the game:
- Looking for more information on Matt Irwin? Check out the interview FTF Worcester's correspondent Jon Allred did with him earlier this month.
- Kevin Kurz of CSN's Sharks Talk analyzes how the Sharks will be going up yet another hot goalie in Ray Emery.
- The NHLPA sits down with Brent Burns to discuss how he has fit in with the Sharks.
Puck drops at 4:07 PST.