The Vancouver Canucks hit the ice for practice this afternoon, but one of their top stars wasn’t part of it.
Elias Pettersson, having another terrific season with 33 goals and 84 points through 73 games, wasn’t on the ice today. Thankfully, it doesn’t appear to be anything serious, as head coach Rick Tocchet confirmed afterwards that it was a maintenance day for the 25-year-old superstar. That said, whether he can suit up tomorrow remains to be seen.
“I’m pretty sure he’s in the lineup tomorrow,” Tocchet told reporters, as per Canucks play-by-play voice Brendan Batchelor.
Rick Tocchet says it was a maintenance day for Elias Pettersson today.
“I’m pretty sure he’s in the lineup tomorrow.” #Canucks @Sportsnet650
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) March 30, 2024
Partly due to Pettersson being unavailable, though also because they have lost two straight, Tocchet switched up his line combinations at today’s practice. Last game versus the Dallas Stars saw J.T. Miller centering Arsheep Bains and Sam Lafferty. That combo appears to be over, as Miller was skating between Dakota Joshua and Conor Garland. Nils Åman filled in for Pettersson, centering Nils Höglander and Brock Boeser.
Their usual third line of Teddy Blueger, Joshua, and Garland was split. Instead, Pius Suter was skating on the third line with Ilya Mikheyev and Lafferty on his wings. Blueger was centering the fourth line with Vasily Podkolzin and Bains.
The top two defensive pairings of Quinn Hughes/Filip Hronek and Carson Soucy/Tyler Myers remained intact, but instead of being alongside Nikita Zadorov, Ian Cole paired up with Noah Juulsen. Zadorov was instead with Mark Friedman.
Also absent from practice was Elias Lindholm, who has missed the Canucks’ last two outings with an undisclosed injury.
Saturday #Canucks practice lines
Joshua. Miller. Garland.
Höglander. Åman. Boeser.
Mikheyev. Suter. Lafferty.
Podkolzin. Blueger. Bains.
PDG.Hughes. Hronek.
Soucy. Myers.
Cole. Juulsen.
Zadorov. Friedman.No Pettersson or Lindholm.@Sportsnet650 pic.twitter.com/vrLZi2Prdc
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) March 30, 2024
The Canucks are back in action tomorrow afternoon as they are set to welcome the Anaheim Ducks to town. It will be the second half of a back-to-back for the Ducks, who are currently in Edmonton to take on the Oilers this afternoon. It will be a good opportunity for the Canucks to get back into the win column, as the Ducks have struggled this season with a 24-45-2 record. Puck drop in tomorrow’s game is set for 12:30 pm PT.
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