Deep Blue Sea: Why Cogliano left Sharks road trip

Plus Mitch Marner injured, a bonkers goal from Trevor Zegras and more in today’s news and notes.

During the team’s recent five-game road trip, San Jose Sharks forward Andrew Cogliano returned home for personal reasons, missing three games before returning to face the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final game of the trip.

It was a scary six days, as Cogliano’s daughter was admitted to hospital care while the team was in Chicago. Olive, the youngest of Cogliano’s two daughters with his wife Allie, will turn one year old in January.

Thankfully, Olive has returned home and the Sharks will have just one road game through the rest of the month — a quick trip to Anaheim on Dec. 27 — so Cogliano will be there to support his family in the aftermath. Still, I can’t imagine being across the country and hearing your child has been hospitalized.

“So it was a couple tough days, especially for my wife,” Cogliano told Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. “(Olive’s) not a year old yet. My job is hockey and no one loves the game more than me. But my first priority is being a dad and my girls at home.”

We’re so glad to hear Olive is doing well. I’ll be keeping the Coglianos in my thoughts and hoping for a peaceful recovery.

News & Notes

• Sharks’ Cogliano returns after ‘a couple tough days’ with hospitalized daughter [The Mercury News]
• San Jose Sharks: Top 10 Prospects [Full Press Hockey]
• Goalie Confidence Rankings: How all 32 NHL teams should feel about their netminding situations [ESPN+]
• San Jose Sharks’ huge homestand starts with two doozies before Joe Pavelski’s visit [The Mercury News]
• One Sharks winger placed on IR, another gets stern message from Bob Boughner [The Mercury News]

Blood in the Water

• NHL insider: Kraken missing out on opportunity to make good first impression with Seattle sports fans [The Seattle Times]
• Matvei Michkov ‘will be an NHL star,’ but his long KHL contract commits him to Russia for years to come [The Athletic]
• Chicago Blackhawks’ Jujhar Khaira taken off on stretcher after hit by New York Rangers’ Jacob Trouba [ESPN]
• Trevor Zegras’ alley-oop, over-the-goalie pass from behind the net produces incredible goal for Ducks vs. Sabres [USA Today]
• Marner out 3-4 weeks for Maple Leafs with shoulder injury [NHL.com]
• After setting the standard for women’s hockey, Tradition honoree Angela Ruggiero has moved on to analyzing data for sports teams [Boston Globe]

Scores & Recaps

• Columbus Blue Jackets 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 5
• Tampa Bay Lightning 3, Montreal Canadiens 2
• New York Islanders 5, Ottawa Senators 3
• Nashville Predators 5, Detroit Red Wings 2
• Anaheim Ducks 2, Buffalo Sabres 0
• Florida Panthers 3, St. Louis Blues X
• Carolina Hurricanes 4, Winnipeg Jets 2
• New York Rangers 6, Chicago Blackhawks 2
• Minnesota Wild 4, Edmonton Oilers 1
• Calgary Flames 3, San Jose Sharks 5

Click on a team name to find a recap on their SB Nation site!

On the Schedule

• Philadelphia Flyers at New Jersey Devils, 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET on MSG+, NBCSP, ESPN+
• Colorado Avalanche at New York Rangers, 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET on NHLN, TVAS, MSG 2, ALT2
• Boston Bruins at Vancouver Canucks, 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET on SN, NESN, ESPN+
• Dallas Stars at Vegas Golden Knights, 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET on TNT, TVAS