Nurse Skates In Morning; Sharks Could Switch It Up Against Predators

The San Jose Sharks begin a six-game road trip against the Nashville Predators on Thursday, and there are some game-time decisions about the lineups.

Darnell Nurse left Tuesday’s game against the Boston Bruins with an injury after a third-period fight, but he skated Thursday morning, per SJHN.

Nurse told Sheng Peng he felt fine, but there are some question marks about whether the veteran will play.

“Nurse stayed out late, and Luca Cagnoni, who didn’t participate in the first wave of line rushes and power play drills, came in early. So maybe Nurse was testing his upper-body injury and won’t play,” Peng wrote.

Cagnoni is a candidate to be a healthy scratch after a tough game against the Bruins on Tuesday. While bad luck played a role in the tough game, he also made some mistakes. The young defenseman has had a decent start to his first full NHL season; watching a game from up top might not be the worst idea.

“Not very good. A couple bad bounces, but it’s got to be better,” Cagnoni said after the game on Tuesday. “I feel like we had some good chances tonight. Just one of those games, I guess. And for me, it’s gotta be better. It’s gonna be harder.”

If Nurse plays on Thursday, Cagnoni will likely come out of the lineup for Nolan Allan. Allan has been a healthy scratch for the San Jose Sharks in the past five games.

Other lineup changes include the starting goalie, as Alex Nedeljkovic will start for the second time this season.