San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski spoke to reporters Sunday for the first time since he suffered a head injury in a game on April 24, saying the play that injured him didn't deserve a penalty.
Pavelski suffered the injury when he took a check from Vegas forward Cody Eakin and subsequent contact from Paul Stastny before hitting his head on the ice during San Jose's Game 7 win in their first-round series over the Golden Knights. He was left bloody on the ice before being helped off by teammates.
Eakin was assessed a five-minute cross-checking major for the hit. Pavelski disagreed with the penalty call.
“Was it a five-minute penalty? No," Pavelski said (via Sportsnet). "Am I glad they called it that way. Yes.”
Pavelski revealed he needed eight staples to close his head wound. While he is skating and training with the team, he is officially considered day-to-day. He did not provide a timetable for his return. He is, however, traveling with the Sharks to Denver for Game 6 of their second-round series against the Avalanche Monday night. The Sharks lead the series, 3-2.
“You feel like you could play tomorrow but we’re going to be smart about it," Pavelski said.
Pavelski, who had remained mostly unseen in public since his injury, made an inspirational appearance Saturday night. He stood outside the tunnel waving a towel to rally the home crowd late in the third period of the Sharks' 2-1 victory over the Avalanche in Game 5.
CAP IS HERE AND THE FANS ARE GOING CRAZY. #ForPavs | #PlayoffMode pic.twitter.com/cEbiADRUzZ
— x - San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) May 5, 2019
The Sharks were trailing that earlier game against the Golden Knights 3-0 when Pavelski suffered the injury. After the assessment of the five-minute penalty, the team went on the power play and scored four unanswered goals to take the lead. They would eventually win in overtime.
"Getting into the training room and kind of sitting there and getting the first staple in the head was when the first goal horn went off," Pavelski said. "By the time the fourth staple was going in it was going off again. It was like, 'cool.'"