Canucks add another injury to long list of ailments
“It’s piling on for ANAHEIM, CALIF. sure.”
That was Travis Green’s shoulder-shrug response to the latest setback for the Canucks. On Wednesday morning, the club announced Erik Gudbranson, who suffered a small shoulder labrum tear Nov. 22 and missed a dozen games, has been shut down and will soon have surgery.
That’s eight injury setbacks if you’re counting — Derek Dorsett, Sven Baertschi, Loui Eriksson, Markus Granlund, Brendan Gaunce, Brock Boeser, Chris Tanev and Gudbranson — although Tanev could play Saturday after missing 16 games with a micro-fracture to his leg.
Much like Gaunce, who had a similar injury and procedure April 20 and needed six months to return to the lineup, Gudbranson will be ready for training camp. He wore a brace and could have finished out the season, but the rehab timeline is critical.
The Canucks’ collective mental makeup is also critical — this is their playoffs. Facing those pursuing post-season positions, like the Anaheim Ducks, while being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs themselves shouldn’t eliminate effort.
Despite the absence of scoring and mounting losses, the Canucks haven’t given up much. They keep pushing the pace. They activate pinching defencemen and haven’t crawled into a let’s-trap-it-up hole.
Here’s what we learned as the Canucks dropped a 3-0 decision, their fourth-straight loss in the wind-up to a three-game trip:
MARKSTROM SHORT-SIDED
Nothing like allowing an early goal and getting a snow shower from Jason Chimera to test your mettle.
If Jacob Markstrom was going to get unnerved and unravel, it would have been after allowing pinching defenceman Brandon Montour to pick the stick side from the slot after a give-and-go. It was followed by a Chimera snow shower and a Tyler Motte challenge of the hulking winger.
Markstrom had his share of good saves after that — especially off 30goal winger Rickard Rakell who did the dipsy-doodle around Motte — but the clinching goal should bug him.
Grinder Chimera got just his third goal of the season by picking the short side. Pucks should never go through a stopper or find the short side.
That said, Markstrom had no chance on the third goal, a powerplay, cross-ice feed.
BOARD-BATTLE WINS
Reid Boucher has 25 AHL goals and had done little offensively since his recall before getting two good second-period looks and another in the third. He was engaged. He was strong on pucks. He teased with that quick release.
The winger also did the spade work along the wall that started the sequence for two bonafide first-period chances.