San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer announced Tuesday morning, star defensemen Erik Karlsson and the teams second- leading goal scorer Tomas Hertl will not be available for tonight’s Game 6 as their team faces elimination. After clearly playing through pain in the Sharks 5-0 defeat in Sunday’s Game 5 match, Karlsson’s absence may have been an inevitability, however the injury to Tomas Hertl is one, that he especially, did not see coming and has since driven up some controversy about how the previous game was officiated.

My biggest criticism of the NHL’s Department of Player Safety: is that they have zero presence, consistency, or predictability. If your statement is that a hit like this is “ok” for the game, can you please come out and explain it, at least? pic.twitter.com/kAXPyjo3Ma

— Brodie Brazil (@BrodieNBCS) May 21, 2019

The injury woes don’t stop there for San Jose however, team captain Joe Pavelski is also to be a game-time decision after taking a big hit from Alex Pietrangelo along the boards during Sunday’s loss.

The Sharks have faced adversity many times throughout this playoff run, from Game 7’s to countless overtime matches, and to this point have come up on top, however this would seem to be the biggest hurdle (not a Hertl pun) of them all. Can the Sharks overcome their hardships and shine through again?

For the full DeBoer Press Conference click HERE

Catch Game 6 of the NHL Western Conference Finals right here on Sports 1140 KHTK after the conclusion of the Oakland A’s vs Cleveland Indians broadcast.

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