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SAN JOSE – Darnell Nurse’s availability for at least the start of the San Jose Sharks’ upcoming six-game road trip may be in question after the defenseman didn’t play the final 13:20 of the third period in Tuesday’s game against the Boston Bruins following a fight with Nikita Zadorov.
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Nurse, listed at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, fought the 6-7, 244-pound Zadorov, seemingly in response to the Russian defenseman’s big hit on Sharks winger Mason Marchment late in the second period.
Nurse absorbed some heavy shots in the fight and landed hard on the ice afterward.
After the Sharks’ 6-3 loss to the Bruins at SAP Center, coach Ryan Warsofsky did not update on Nurse, who was second among all San Jose defensemen with an average of 21:10 in ice time per game before Tuesday.
The Sharks trailed 4-3 at the time of the fight, with Macklin Celebrini’s power-play goal at the 5:04 mark cutting the Bruins’ lead to one. Boston got an even-strength goal from forward Frazer Minten at the 11:47 mark of the third, then defenseman William Borgen scored an empty-netter with 1:42 to go to seal the win, sending the Sharks to their third loss in four games.
Since coming to San Jose in a July 1 trade with the Edmonton Oilers. Nurse has been on the team’s top defense pair with Michael Kesselring and has become a key part of the Sharks’ penalty kill. He also scored an overtime goal in San Jose’s 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues last Thursday.
The Sharks do not practice on Wednesday before their flight to Nashville, where they’ll face the Predators on Thursday. If Nurse goes on injured reserve, he’ll miss at least seven days.
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After Thursday, the Sharks face the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, and the Montreal Canadiens next Tuesday. San Jose’s road trip ends with stops in Ottawa on Sept. 22 and Boston on Sept. 24.
Going without Nurse for an extended period could test the Sharks’ defensive depth.
Nolan Allan, who was scratched for a fourth straight game on Tuesday, would likely return to the lineup; if Nurse goes on IR, the Sharks would most likely recall either Eric Pohlkamp or Libor Hajek from the AHL.
Pohlkamp is a first-year pro, and Hajek, a veteran of 110 NHL games, is back in North America for the first time since the start of the 2023-24 season. In four games with the Barracuda this season, Pohlkamp has three assists, while Hajek does not have a point.
The Sharks liked aspects of their game Tuesday, namely putting 38 shots toward Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman and going 2-for-4 on the power play. They were coming off a 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday in which they managed only a handful of scoring chances.
“I thought it was a step in the right direction,” Warsofsky said. “I think you create your own luck and you create your own puck luck, and I thought we did some things that we’ve talked about the last couple of days. We’ve improved in some areas and some positives, but some things we have to clean up.”
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This story was originally published October 14, 2026 at 1:58 AM.