It was right back to work for the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday morning as the team skated before flying to St. Louis where it will begin a three-game road trip on Monday.
Coming off their 2-1 victory over Washington on Saturday, the Canucks showed a couple of possible line-up changes for the game against the Blues.

What we saw

Rick Tocchet said Kiefer Sherwood, who was injured in Edmonton on Thursday and missed Saturday’s game against the Capitals, will not travel with the team. However, the coach said it’s possible Sherwood could join the Canucks at some point on their road trip which continues to Nashville and Dallas. Wednesday is the team’s only visit of the season to Nashville, where Sherwood spent the past two years before signing in Vancouver as a free agent last summer.
Conor Garland was excused from Sunday’s on-ice session for maintenance reasons. He will accompany the team on its flight and should be good to go against the Blues. With Garland missing, Dakota Joshua slid into his spot on a line with Pius Suter and Jake DeBrusk. Joshua is considered a game-time decision for Monday’s battle with the Blues after missing the past 10 games with a lower-body injury.
Otherwise, the forward lines used against Washington remained intact during the 30-minute skate at Rogers Arena.
There was plenty of change on defence, too, where Mark Friedman was reassigned to Abbotsford earlier in the day. That left the Canucks with eight healthy defencemen at their disposal. A day after making his NHL debut, rookie Elias Pettersson held down one of the spots in the top three pairs at practice, skating once again with veteran Carson Soucy, who remained on the right side. D-Petey didn’t look out of place logging 10:37 of ice time in his first big league game on Saturday.
Having served his three-game suspension, Tyler Myers is out of the league doghouse and was back on a pair with Quinn Hughes at practice. That left Filip Hronek to skate with Derek Forbort. After a run of tough games, Vincent Desharnais joined Noah Juulsen on the team’s fourth defensive pair at practice.
Rick Tocchet wouldn’t name a starting goalie for Monday’s game in St. Louis but suggested it was time to give Kevin Lankinen a run of games.

What we heard

Rick Tocchet on wanting to get more looks at defenceman Elias Pettersson: “I felt he needed to get into a regular pair at practice and get reps. It’s hard to evaluate a guy that gets one game and then you don’t put him in. We like what he brings. So whether he plays tomorrow, I don’t know with roster stuff and that. Me and Patrik [Allvin] will talk about that. He’s a sponge. He’s big. He wants to hit. He wants to box out and he wants to learn. So we really enjoy that about him.”
Tocchet on practicing day after a good win and before a long flight to St. Louis: “This team needs touches. We need work. Last year, I felt more comfortable giving the team a day off and then playing. Right now, I think I need to switch my philosophy. This team needs touches. I think we had a 25-minute practice. Go work on your game. I felt today the touches were important for this team.”
Dakota Joshua on getting injured against Nashville on January 3rd and finishing that game before missing the next 10: “Obviously, the adrenaline does a lot for you and being in the heat in the moment, I tried to go out there and do what I could. Unfortunate that I had to miss time, but once again, I’m putting that behind me and just looking forward.”
Joshua on getting hurt as his game was starting to trend in the right direction: “Started feeling good about my game again, so, yeah, it was definitely frustrating, unfortunate, unlucky – whatever you want to call it. But that’s part of the game. You have to deal with the hand you’re dealt and keep pushing forward. So looking forward to getting back in and getting into stride again.”
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