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Havlat out after “stupid fluke” injury

Martin Havlat Sharks

During Saturday’s 3-2 win over Edmonton, San Jose winger Martin Havlat suffered a freak leg injury after trying to hop the boards midway through the third period:

Now it’s possible the injury has gone from “freak” to “serious.”

Havlat won’t play Wednesday when the Sharks host the Tampa Bay Lighting and could be out for a while. Head coach Todd McLellan told the Mercury News that Havlat will be medically re-evaluated and they’ll know more later -- but based on the winger’s comments and physical response, it doesn’t sound good.

"[My skate got] caught a little bit. It was just quick and I felt pain,” Havlat explained. “I couldn’t even get up so I had to get off right away. I didn’t want to be on the ice for that long.”

As you can see in the video, Havlat crawled off the ice and didn’t put any weight on his left leg upon getting back to the bench. He left HP Pavilion that night with the help of a walking cane, though he says he didn’t hear anything “pop” upon hitting the ice.

“No, just pain. That’s all,” he told Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area.

The injury couldn’t have come at a worse time. After struggling for most of the season, Havlat recorded three points in his last two games and scored against Edmonton, snapping an 18-game goalless drought.

“I was starting to feel better and we won the last two games so I think the whole team was starting to play better,” Havlat said. “Unfortunately that stupid fluke happened.”