Brent Burns injury leaves hole for San Jose Sharks

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The San Jose Sharks continue to be without Brent Burns, who hasn’t played or skated with teammates since pulling out of a game on October 21 against the Detroit Red Wings. The injury is on the mysterious side, as the team hasn’t given any substantial updates on his situation outside of calling him day-to-day.

It was believed initially that Burns would only miss a game or two after taking a stick to the mouth, but this timeline suggests that there could be other issues in play.

With the top-line forward on the shelf for the last few weeks, San Jose’s offense has been hot and cold, the team has dropped three consecutive games and has fallen out of first place in the Pacific Division. There’s been a rotating cast of players that have attempted to fill the gap left behind by Burns, but so far no one has been particularly ineffective.

Freddie Hamilton didn’t stick on the line alongside Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl. Tyler Kennedy didn’t quite have the impact that coach Todd McLellan was looking for, so he’ll go with Tommy Wingels on the top line tonight.

Meanwhile, Burns has yet to spend any time out on the ice with the Sharks according to Kevin Kurz of CSNBayArea.com. As per his report:

"Burns’ recovery time is still uncertain – he has yet to take part in a full practice with the Sharks – but Thornton seemed excited to line up with Wingels to his right."