A day after putting forward Elias Pettersson into COVID protocol, Alex Chiasson wasn’t on the ice for practice at Rogers Arena this morning.
He has tested positive for COVID-19, according to head coach Bruce Boudreau.
Chiasson’s positive test result came as the result of a rapid test, which is why he hasn’t yet been placed into protocol. The team will await the result of his PCR test before officially placing him into protocol.
Additionally, the Canucks are expecting to get Phil Di Giuseppe and Brock Boeser back in time for practice tomorrow, meaning they’ll both likely play Saturday evening against the Ottawa Senators.
And when you look at the forward lines the Canucks rolled out at practice today, it’s certainly a welcome sight to see more players returning to their lineup from COVID protocol.
Boudreau touched on what the loss of Pettersson means for his team ahead of Saturday’s game.
“It’s 100% a loss,” said Boudreau. “Every team is still looking, when you’re playing them, they’re probably saying, ‘okay, we got to make sure that we can’t let Pettersson on the score sheet’ and they’re paying attention to him.”
“Unfortunately, it comes off of him having maybe two of his best practices of the year, so we were really looking forward to him playing this weekend, but you know, it’s happening to everybody and unfortunately, it’s happening to us, and we’ll just have to trudge along.”
The Canucks are set to host their first home game since December 14th this Saturday when the Ottawa Senators come into town. Puck drop is at 7 PM from Rogers Arena.
