San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski was a very late scratch for Game 6 of the Western Conference final.
Pavelski ingested a major hit by St. Louis Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo in the third period of Game 5. The center has four goals and five assists 13 playoff games.
Mentor Peter DeBoer said Pavelski would be a game-time decision. Pavelski did not take the ice for pregame warmups and was authoritatively listed as a scratch only minutes before the beginning of the challenge.
DeBoer said after the 5-1 misfortune that Pavelski was “not close” to playing.
Pavelski, who endured a concussion in Game 7 of San Jose’s first-round series win against the Vegas Golden Knights, joins defenseman Erik Karlsson and center Tomas Hertl on the sidelines.
Karlsson has been bothered by crotch issues since January and played just 10 1/2 minutes in Game 5. Hertl was slowed by a hit from Ivan Barbarshev in Game 5.
Karlsson and Hertl did not make the trip to St. Louis for Tuesday’s down.
