Pacific Notes: Vlasic, Eakin, Anderson

With the series hitting Vegas and both teams deadlocked at one, the San Jose Sharks already have hit a road bump as The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports that the head coach Peter DeBoer said the team will be inserting reserve defenseman Tim Heed into the lineup and Marc-Edouard Vlasic will miss Game 3 with an undisclosed injury.

Vlasic left Friday’s game during the second period after replays look like he blocked a shot from Shea Theodore with his arm, although Kurz wonders whether the shot may have gone off his head. DeBoer declined to reveal where the puck hit Vlasic. While the 32-year-old’s point totals have dropped this season, he still is the team’s third-best defenseman on the team behind Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson and averaged 21:07 of ATOI this season, which will be a big loss for a Sharks’ team that will want to win one of the next two games to regain home-ice advantage.

The loss of Vlasic will likely mean even more minutes for both Burns and Karlsson. Burns has averaged more than 28 minutes in the first two games of the series, while Karlsson broke 29 minutes in Game 2. Heed will likely be paired with Justin Braun. The team also has recalled defenseman Jacob Middleton from the San Jose Barracuda, according to CapFriendly.

• Vegas Golden Knights third-line center Cody Eakin will be ready to go after suffering an injury to his face during Friday’s game on a hit from Timo Meier, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. Eakin was seen on the ice this morning with a jaw protector attached to his helmet. The 27-year-old Eakin finished the season with a career-high 22 goals this season.
• ESPN’s Chris Peters reports that Los Angeles Kings defenseman Michael Anderson has likely played his last collegiate game after the University of Minnesota-Duluth blueliner won his second-straight NCAA championship Saturday. Expect the Kings to sign the 19-year-old sophomore to an entry-level contract soon. Anderson, the team’s fourth-round pick in 2017, is considered to be a solid shutdown defender with impressive leadership skills.