TRUMPED BY CAPS
On a night calling for unity at the Capitol, the Canucks stuck together but came up short in Washington BEN KUZMA,
BEN KUZMA
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Chris Tanev’s teeth still look like a picket fence — with some pieces missing and others misaligned at odd angles.
The Vancouver Canucks defenceman has suffered myriad injuries and knows the damage a stick or puck to the face can render. A year ago in Toronto, he lost several teeth when a puck deflected by Mitch Marner struck him in the face.
Two teeth were pushed under his tongue and he needed several operations to repair the damage.
However, Tanev can’t imagine the fear of bouncing your face off the ice and being knocked unconscious. But that’s’ precisely what happed Monday night to Alex Edler, who received stitches and suffered a concussion, but no facial fractures. Really, it’s rather remarkable.
Edler’s stick got caught in Jakub Voracek’s skate midway through Monday’s third period in Philadelphia, and as he twisted at the top of the crease, he tumbled and his face hit the ice — hard. Edler was dazed and bloodied and had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher.
“His face is pretty messed up, but this is huge, because when he was on the ice, I expected something worse,” Tanev said Tuesday of his defensive partner.
“You sort of go into shock when somebody is bleeding that much and not moving. That was one of the scariest things I’ve seen, other than Manny (Malhotra) taking a puck in the eye.”
There’s still concern because no two players recover in the same manner from a concussion. Edler has been placed on injured reserve along with teammate Sven Baertschi. The winger wasn’t feeling right after Saturday’s game in Denver and didn’t accompany the team to Philadelphia.
Baertschi missed 30 games after suffering the fifth concussion of his career on Oct. 24 in Las Vegas and saw a doctor Tuesday in Vancouver to assess whether he’s experiencing anything related to concussion symptoms.
Baertschi absorbed a defensive zone hit from Nathan MacKinnon and a cross-check from Ian Cole during Vancouver’s 5-1 win over the Avalanche.
Filling the Edler void won’t be easy. He leads the club in average ice time (23:24) and blocked shots (109), and is fifth in hits (80). He also anchors the first power play unit and leads club blue-liners in scoring with 20 points (5-15).
Travis Green favours leftright shot combinations, so Tanev switched sides Tuesday after being pairing with Erik Gudbranson.
Alex Biega returned to the lineup alongside Derrick Pouliot and the recalled Guillaume Brisebois may play at some point.
“We’re going to need more of a group effort more than anything,” said defenceman Troy Stecher.
Added Green: “You don’t want to lose your top guy, but I don’t want to overthink it. I’m never one to make excuses, you’ve got to move on. It’s the NHL.”
The Canucks need better decision-making and defensive posture from Pouliot. He’s had trouble making a good first pass and must find some consistency to get his game back in order.
“I don’t think he’s on top of his game right now and he would probably admit it,” said Green. “I met with him today (Tuesday) and he needs to be better.”
This isn’t new injury territory for the Canucks.
They lost Edler (knee), Tanev (hip) and Baertschi (concussion) on Oct. 24 and five days later, Brandon Sutter was lost to a separated shoulder. And in a stretch from Nov. 10 to Dec. 4, when the club went 1-10-2, Jay Beagle was out with a fractured forearm while Sutter was sidelined.
Meanwhile, goaltender Thatcher Demko returned to Vancouver to have an MRI (magnetic resonance imagine) on his knee after suffering an injury in Monday’s warm-up. Mike DiPietro, the club’s third-round selection in the 2017 draft, has been recalled on an emergency basis and backed up Jacob Markstrom on Tuesday.
It has left the Canucks thin, with Richard Bachman lost for the season to an Achilles injury and Mike McKenna, whom the Canucks landed in the Anders Nilsson swap, claimed by Philadelphia on waivers.
With Brian Elliott close to returning from injury, the Flyers will likely expose McKenna to waivers again. It’s a scenario the Canucks are banking on.
In the interim, DiPietro has been urged to soak up the guidance of goalie coach Ian Clark and watch how players prep both on and off the ice.
“I don’t know how long he’s going to be here, but get something out of it and enjoy it,” said Green. “You don’t want to just sit and watch everyone. He’s dialed right in and he’ll be a good pro.”
The best case scenario is for the team to avoid another injury.
“You hope your (starting) goalie doesn’t get hurt,” said Green. “We could have had to dress somebody (Monday) and I’m glad that didn’t happen. I was to go and meet (an emergency goalie) on Monday, but I was a little hot after the game.”