Dahlen Leaves Game with Possible Shoulder Injury

San Jose Sharks forward Jonathan Dahlen sustained a possible left shoulder injury midway through the first period against the Washington Capitals.

A replay of how Jonathan Dahlen appeared to get injured. #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/hj9aNhGER3

— Michael Gutnick (@michaelgutnick) November 21, 2021

“It’s upper-body. He tried to come back in the second period, but he couldn’t,” San Jose Sharks head coach Bob Boughner said postgame. “We’ll get it reassessed tomorrow and know more in the morning.”

Dahlen collided into the goal post before bumping awkwardly into Washington defenseman John Carlson. He favored his left shoulder while skating back to the bench and immediately went down the tunnel.

Dahlen came back for two shifts in the second period, but then returned to the San Jose Sharks locker room. His last shift came at the 5:18 mark of the second period.

Rudolfs Balcers replaced Dahlen on the San Jose Sharks’ top line with Timo Meier and Logan Couture.

The 23-year-old rookie has seven goals — tied for the team lead — and nine points in 16 games.

Really tough luck for Dahlen, particularly tonight: Sweden Olympic head coach and former #SJSharks playoff star Johan Garpenlov is in attendance. Dahlen certainly isn't a favorite for Team Sweden, but I'm sure he wanted to make a good impression

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 21, 2021

San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture said it was tough to see Dahlen go down like that after the game.

“I haven’t seen him after,” Couture said. “I didn’t have enough time to talk to him in between periods. All I knew is he was going to go back and try it. Hopefully that’s a good sign. We definitely missed him.”