Canucks dealing with new injury absences as Kraken visit
The new year brought more discouraging injury news for the Vancouver Canucks.
Coach Adam Foote announced at practice on Thursday that forwards Marco Rossi and Conor Garland would both be out for at least a week after sustaining injuries in a 6-3 loss on Tuesday against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.
That means neither player will be available when the Canucks play host to the rival Seattle Kraken on Friday.
Foote said Rossi sustained a lower-body injury but didn't disclose the nature of Garland's ailment, only saying the veteran was slew-footed.
Nils Hoglander and Aatu Raty, who were both healthy scratches against the Flyers, are expected to rejoin the lineup against Seattle.
"With these guys in and out or coming in and with the schedule the way it is, we need to use our depth," said Foote, who added the Canucks likely would be calling up a forward from Abbotsford of the AHL.
Forward Jake DeBrusk, who was scratched from the Canucks' lineup for a 3-2 shootout victory at Seattle on Monday, skated on the top line at practice on Thursday. DeBrusk, who scored a career-high 28 goals last season, has one goal in his past 17 games and just nine on the campaign.
Teammate Brock Boeser is in an even worse funk, having not scored in 14 games.
"It's been tough," Boeser said. "And, you know, the confidence has been pretty low, but we talked about these slumps. Like the only way out of it is hard work and just trusting the process."
The Canucks, who have the second-lowest point total in the league, are just 4-12-1 at home and have dropped their past two home games by matching 6-3 margins.
They took a 1-0 lead against Philadelphia while attempting the game's first 10 shots before faltering.
"We started very good. I think first 10 minutes was great," said Vancouver forward David Kampf, who scored the opening goal. "But after that, I don't know, it slipped a little bit away. So, yeah, if I knew the answer I would tell you, but I don't. I guess we have to talk about it and be better."
The Kraken will be playing the second half of a back-to-back set after earning a 4-1 victory against the visiting Nashville Predators on Thursday.
Matty Beniers scored twice and goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves for the Kraken, who are 5-0-1 since snapping out of a 1-9-1 skid.
The recent run has taken Seattle from being a point out of last place in the Western Conference through Dec. 18 to sitting in the West's final wild-card spot entering play Friday. A big part of the reason in Grubauer, who has won his past three starts.
"Grubi's been an absolute rock in net," Beniers said. "No easy goals. Even their one goal (by Roman Josi on the power play) was an absolute rip, top shelf, from walking down the slot. He made a couple of saves he's not supposed to be making."
The Kraken scored three times in the opening 11 minutes and coasted to the victory, an unfamiliar feeling.
"We're usually in the tight, one-goal kind of games, and to build a bit of a lead was fine," Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. "What I felt like is -- and you see it throughout the league -- is when teams get two- and three-goal leads, the other teams come and there isn't anything to lose at that point for them. And so, these two- and three-goal leads are disappearing."
But thanks in large part to Grubauer, the Kraken held firm.
"I thought our commitment was high and we did a lot of things we needed to do," Lambert said. "There were probably a couple of moments in that game that are really good teaching moments for us when we do get in the lead. You can't change the way you play just because you're in the lead."