SAN JOSE — The home crowd roared every time he was spotted on the big-screen.
And that was just in warmups.
SAP Center was shaking when it was officially announced that San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski would be back in the lineup for Game 7, his first skate in this second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche.
The 34-year-old forward has been sidelined for the past two weeks due to a head injury and pressure-cut, the result of a scary incident in the first-round finale against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Pavelski was considered a game-time decision, with his status not certain until moments before the opening faceoff.
“The nature of the injury, obviously nobody is going to rush that, particularly him. He’s going to make sure,” said Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer prior to the pre-game warmups. “But those things are so unpredictable — you could have an injury like that and miss months, or you could have an injury like that and have no symptoms and be back in a week.
“Thankfully, his symptoms weren’t as bad as the result looked coming off the ice. He has recovered quicker than maybe it looked from the outside.”
Pavelski’s availability for Game 7 against the Avalanche was such a big story that a San Jose newspaper — The Mercury News — checked with his wife.
“I’m 75% sure he will play,” Sarah Pavelski told the paper earlier in the day. “He’s hoping to, but wants to see the doctors one more time this morning to be sure.”
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
