Sharks Defenseman Mario Ferraro Exits Game With Upper-Body Injury
Holding the Florida Panthers' offense at bay is a big ask on any given night, let alone when you are without your primary shut-down defenseman. That's the position the San Jose Sharks find themselves in on Saturday night after Mario Ferraro was forced to leave the contest with an upper-body injury.
Mario Ferraro is not retuning to this game, per the Sharks.
— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22) January 30, 2022
San Jose is going to try and beat the best team in the NHL (by points percentage) with one of its top-four defensemen for the next 40 minutes.
This season, Ferraro has played 40 games for the Sharks and sits behind only Brent Burns in ice-time, averaging 23:55 minutes per game. The 23-year-old is deployed as a defensive specialist, starting 66.8% of his shifts in the defending zone and spending more time on the penalty kill than any other Sharks player.
San Jose is down to five defensemen for the remainder of the game. Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Jaycob Megna could take on additional minutes with Ferraro unavailable; however, it could also mean an increased role for Brent Burns.
The Sharks lead the Panthers in the second period. Head over to FanDuel Sportsbook for a live line on the game.
