Scenes from morning skate: With no Elias Pettersson, hometown kid Petan gets his shot in the Canucks’ lineup tonight
2 years ago
The Vancouver Canucks are back at home for game four of their seven-game homestand, with Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils in town for these teams’ second and final matchups with one another this season.
Here’s what we saw at morning skate.
Line rushes
- It appears Nic Petan may finally get a look in the Canucks’ lineup, as he skated in Sheldon Rempal’s spot between Vasily Podkolzin and Alex Chiasson.
- After playing with Travis Hamonic last game, it looks like Quinn Hughes will be reunited with Luke Schenn tonight.
- Rempal played fine in his one game against Tampa Bay on Sunday night, but Boudreau may want to get a look at some of the other guys in Abbotsford to see who is the best fit.
- Expect to see the lines in a blender again tonight — but for the Motte-Lammikko-Highmore line to stay together all game long.
- The Canucks are hopeful that Elias Pettersson will return at some point during this homestand. “This is not a long-term thing,” Bruce Boudreau said today. Pettersson, along with Jason Dickinson, Kyle Burroughs, and Brandon Sutter, skated yesterday when the team had a day off. Pettersson will not play tonight.
What was said
Unsurprisingly, J.T. Miller says he’s playing with a lot of confidence right now, but that it’s not necessarily from putting up a multitude of points.
“I don’t get confidence because of the score sheet,” said Miller. “You can get confidence from scoring a bunch of goals — goalscorers I guess think you’re going to score every time once you get a couple — but sometimes it seems like every time you pass it to somebody it goes in and I guess we’re getting that right now.
“It doesn’t mean I’m playing any better just because I pass the puck to the point and they get a shot that gets through. I’m just trying to play my game and these games are so important. I’m trying to play my best today. Like I said 1000 times, if I play my best, I think I can help our team win, so nothing has changed for me.”
Nic Petan isn’t sure how many friends and family will be in attendance tonight, but the Delta, B.C. native is excited to suit up for his hometown team, and took some time to reflect on growing up as a Canucks fan.
“I had the West Coast Express line,” said Petan when asked if he had any Canucks posters on his bedroom wall growing up. “I grew up a huge fan, so I think it’s a little bit extra motivation for sure, but I’m just going to try and stay even keel and enjoy it.”
Bruce Boudreau gleefully admitted that he’ll be scoreboard watching like a madman tonight and every night while his team is still in the playoff picture.
“I’m pretty sure I know what’s going on with every team in in the league all the time,” said Boudreau. “I’ll be starting at four o’clock and I mean, this way you get most of your work done early, but I think it’s a really exciting part of the year. You’d love to be in first place by 20 points and not have to do it and then start laughing at the teams underneath you. But in cases like us, we just watch every team and get up in the morning and you can’t wait to look at the standings if you haven’t looked at them the night before.”
Puck drop is at 7 PM from Rogers Arena tonight as the Canucks look to turn their fortunes against the Devils.
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