The <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/usa-hockey-fully-expect-vancouver-canucks-jt-miller-available-4-nations-faceoff-report">Vancouver Canucks</a> skated on Monday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, where they’ll wrap up their six-game road trip on Tuesday night against the Minnesota Wild.
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With only 12 healthy forwards on the road trip, there won’t be any changes up front. However, the Canucks do have options on defence, and on Monday, they experimented at practice.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Looking like only changes are on D. Hughes with Juulsen. Myers back with Soucy. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#canucks</a> <a href="https://t.co/ssz91lQtgW">pic.twitter.com/ssz91lQtgW</a>
&mdash; Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) <a href="https://twitter.com/sportsnetmurph/status/1863662308591010290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Sportsnet&#8217;s Dan Murphy went on to say that Tyler Myers also took some turns with <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/nhl-names-vancouver-canucks-quinn-hughes-second-star-week">Quinn Hughes</a> and with Mark Friedman, who was recalled earlier on the road trip but has yet to see game action. The Canucks will need to figure out their optimal defensive deployment in an effort to keep the league’s leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov in check on Tuesday. Kaprizov has 15 goals and 38 points.
Hughes and Myers crushed their competition in Sunday’s 5-4 overtime win in Detroit. In 16:01 at 5-on-5, the Canucks controlled 67.9% of all shot attempts and outshot the Detroit Red Wings 6-4. Together, that duo was not on the ice for any of the Detroit goals.
That stands in stark contrast to Vincent Desharnais, who was on the ice for all four Red Wings goals in just 13:05 of ice time. Three of those goals were at even strength, while Desharnais and Myers were the defensive pair on the ice for Michael Rasmussen’s power play goal that tied the game at 3-3 early in the third period. 
It’s unlikely Friedman will draw in for the road trip finale, however he remains an option in the event Desharnais’ struggles continue.
The Canucks are trying to patch their blueline together in the absence of Filip Hronek who was injured on Wednesday in Pittsburgh. He accompanied the team to Detroit but has now flown home to Vancouver as he continues to seek medical opinions on the best course of treatment for what is believed to be a shoulder injury. The club is 2-0 in the first two games since Hronek left the line-up.
<h1>What we heard</h1>
Rick Tocchet on the chance to have a strong finish to the road trip: “There’s a little bit of everything on this road trip. We’ve had some really good moments. Some guys have really stepped up in key moments. We’ve had some bad periods. The starts are something we’ve talked about and will continue to work on that. I like the fight in the team. Even though we’re down (key players). And there have been spurts of really good play by a lot of people. We have a good chance to have a hell of a road trip with a win tomorrow against one of the top teams in the league right now.”
Rick Tocchet on Noah Juulsen’s key shot blocks on third period penalty kill on Sunday: “The one there, I thought he broke a rib. That had some heat to it. There’s not a lot of padding there and I give him a lot of credit. And he’s out there practicing today.”
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The <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/usa-hockey-fully-expect-vancouver-canucks-jt-miller-available-4-nations-faceoff-report">Vancouver Canucks</a> skated on Monday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, where they’ll wrap up their six-game road trip on Tuesday night against the Minnesota Wild.
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With only 12 healthy forwards on the road trip, there won’t be any changes up front. However, the Canucks do have options on defence, and on Monday, they experimented at practice.

https://twitter.com/sportsnetmurph/status/1863662308591010290

Sportsnet's Dan Murphy went on to say that Tyler Myers also took some turns with <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/nhl-names-vancouver-canucks-quinn-hughes-second-star-week">Quinn Hughes</a> and with Mark Friedman, who was recalled earlier on the road trip but has yet to see game action. The Canucks will need to figure out their optimal defensive deployment in an effort to keep the league’s leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov in check on Tuesday. Kaprizov has 15 goals and 38 points.

Hughes and Myers crushed their competition in Sunday’s 5-4 overtime win in Detroit. In 16:01 at 5-on-5, the Canucks controlled 67.9% of all shot attempts and outshot the Detroit Red Wings 6-4. Together, that duo was not on the ice for any of the Detroit goals.

That stands in stark contrast to Vincent Desharnais, who was on the ice for all four Red Wings goals in just 13:05 of ice time. Three of those goals were at even strength, while Desharnais and Myers were the defensive pair on the ice for Michael Rasmussen’s power play goal that tied the game at 3-3 early in the third period. 

It’s unlikely Friedman will draw in for the road trip finale, however he remains an option in the event Desharnais’ struggles continue.

The Canucks are trying to patch their blueline together in the absence of Filip Hronek who was injured on Wednesday in Pittsburgh. He accompanied the team to Detroit but has now flown home to Vancouver as he continues to seek medical opinions on the best course of treatment for what is believed to be a shoulder injury. The club is 2-0 in the first two games since Hronek left the line-up.
<h1>What we heard</h1>
Rick Tocchet on the chance to have a strong finish to the road trip: “There’s a little bit of everything on this road trip. We’ve had some really good moments. Some guys have really stepped up in key moments. We’ve had some bad periods. The starts are something we’ve talked about and will continue to work on that. I like the fight in the team. Even though we’re down (key players). And there have been spurts of really good play by a lot of people. We have a good chance to have a hell of a road trip with a win tomorrow against one of the top teams in the league right now.”

Rick Tocchet on Noah Juulsen’s key shot blocks on third period penalty kill on Sunday: “The one there, I thought he broke a rib. That had some heat to it. There’s not a lot of padding there and I give him a lot of credit. And he’s out there practicing today.”

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