"Ryane Clowe said today he basically took himself out of the Sharks lineup after playing three games with a facial injury because he had a hard time adapting to the protective cage he tried to wear.

"It was annoying me and we decided to just let it rest and heal," said Clowe, who will not play Thursday night against Ottawa and could miss the next three games before the NHL All-Star break as well.

Clowe said he is not dealing with any concussion-like symptoms and that the vision problems he had were an obstruction issue, nothing else. He played two games with the cage, then removed it during Sunday night's loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, though he continued to play.

"That was a decision where I just said take this off because it was getting on my nerves," Clowe said. "I was saying I couldn't see out of it great. I wasn't saying I had blurry vision.""