RALEIGH, N.C. — Evander Kane said Thursday morning he didn’t feel his hit on Washington Capitals defenseman Radko Gudas earlier this week warranted a fine, let alone a suspension.

Kane was fined $5,000 by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety on Wednesday, one day after he was given a five minute major and a game misconduct for his hit to Gudas’ head with 5:07 left in regulation time.

The fine is the maximum allowable by the NHL under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

“I wasn’t expecting anything at all, but you never know with how everything works in today’s age with the league,” Kane said at PNC Arena, where the Sharks will play the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. “Everything seems to be under a very large microscope. So, just happy to be playing tonight.”

Kane felt Gudas took a run at him earlier in that shift, catching him low at center ice, just after Kane had sent the puck into the Capitals zone.

A little more than 10 seconds later, a pass from Mario Ferraro had bounced over Kane’s stick and the puck was in front of the Capitals’ bench. Kane skated toward it and as Gudas approached, Kane lifted his right hand and caught Gudas in the face.

Gudas fell awkwardly into the boards and had to leave the game, although he was able to play Wednesday for the Capitals in their game against the Los Angeles Kings. Kane was given a five minute major and a game misconduct.

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“I was just trying to finish out the rest of the game,” Kane said. “We’re losing 5-2. He had taken a run at me earlier in that shift, maybe 15 seconds before, and he tried to take a run at me again there, as you saw. He decided to come in low. It’s Radko Gudas. It’s not (Buffalo Sabres defenseman) Rasmus Dahlin coming in on you.

“I just tried to protect myself and kind if get out of the way. Unfortunately, he kind of ran his face into my fist and smashed his head off the dasher. It is what it is.”

Kane scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season in the Sharks’ loss, snapping an eight game goal drought. Kane scored a hat trick for the Sharks in their 5-2 win over the Hurricanes on Oct. 16 at SAP Center.

Carolina is 8-5-0 at home this season. The Sharks are 1-2-1 in their last four visits to Raleigh, including a shootout loss last season.

“We’re coming off a tough loss at home with one of our lesser efforts of the season,” Kane said. “For us, we’ve got to come out hard and early in this building. We don’t want to have their fans get into it and get the crowd behind them because we know they feed off that.”

SAN JOSE, CA – OCTOBER 4: San Jose Sharks’ Mario Ferraro (38) waits for a face-off against the Vegas Golden Knights in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 

Defense pair shakeup

The Sharks will start Thursday’s game with two newer-looking defense pairs, as Brent Burns will be paired with Ferraro and Brenden Dillon will play with fellow left-shot blueliner Radim Simek.

Simek and Dillon both had a plus-minus rating of -3 in Tuesday’s game and Burns and Ferraro were both -1.

Burns and Ferraro played together earlier this season before Simek came off injured reserve. Simek has spent almost all of the last 14 games with Burns as his partner, and the Sharks are 11-3-0 with Simek in the lineup.

“Obviously our defensive game last game wasn’t great,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said.  “I thought we had some issues. It wasn’t just the defense. Our forwards played a part in that, too. Just making some changes based on last game.”

Tomas Hertl suits up

Tomas Hertl will be back in the lineup Thursday after he left Tuesday’s game early in the third period for precautionary reasons. It was the second time in three games Hertl had to leave a game early after he also sat out most of the third period in the Sharks’ 4-1 win over Los Angeles on Nov. 29.

Hertl played just 10 minutes and 15 seconds against the Capitals, as he felt the effects of collision with Nick Jensen early in the third period. Hertl said he felt better Wednesday as the Sharks flew to North Carolina to start a four-game road trip.

“It wasn’t that bad, but tough luck last couple games,” Hertl said. “For sure (stinks) for me when I’m leaving the game, because I want to be there for the full 60 minutes.”

Hertl suffered an ankle injury Nov. 19 in the third period of the Sharks’ game against the Edmonton Oilers. He sat out the following four games before he returned to play against the Kings.

Asked if he’s skating at 100 percent right now, Hertl said, “It’s fine. When it’s in the game, you don’t really think about it. It’s more the practices because you have more (time) to think about it.. In games, you just play hockey. You don’t have time to think about an ankle because you have to make plays and be where you’re supposed to be. During games, it’s not bad.”