SAN JOSE - Defenseman Matt Irwin’s status is still day-to-day, but the defenseman appeared to be a full participant in practice on Wednesday. Irwin suffered an upper body injury while shooting a puck in practice last Friday and has missed the last two games.
“We’ll see how I feel tomorrow,” he said. “This is the first competitive team practice I’ve been a part of.”
McLellan said that Irwin, who has at least a point in six of his last eight games, “looked much better today.”
The Sharks host Nashville on Thursday.
The news on injured forward Mike Brown is much less encouraging. The agitating fourth liner has not been able to return to practice with his teammates due to a broken bone in his right leg, and although he’s still skating on his own from time to time, his season appears to be in jeopardy.
“He hasn’t even participated yet in any type of team activity. It’s looking bleaker and bleaker for him as far as coming back and getting his game in order to have an impact,” McLellan said. “But, we’re still going to work with him. We want him back in the lineup, but Mother Nature sometimes dictates which way that goes, too.”
Brown has played in just eight games this season, going scoreless with 13 penalty minutes. He broke a finger in the second game of the season on Oct. 11 vs. Winnipeg, returned to play six straight games, and then suffered the leg injury on Dec. 9 against Edmonton.
The 29-year-old signed a two-year, $2.4 million contract extension last summer.
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