VANCOUVER — In a 2-1 preseason loss to the Edmonton Oilers’ reserves, it was difficult to tell which Vancouver Canucks players took a step forward as the National Hockey League season looms. But it was obvious Thursday which unlucky one went backwards.
Centre Filip Chytil, a huge wild card for the team after playing only 12 games in the last 18 months due to serious head and neck injuries, was hurt in the first period of Thursday’s loss when he accidentally hooked skates with referee Riley Brace and crashed heavily into the boards behind the Oilers’ net.
Chytil’s head appeared to hit the ice upon falling, but Canucks coach Manny Malhotra told reporters post-game that it is the talented 27-year-old’s shoulder that will be reassessed on Friday.
The concussion the skilled centre suffered on a thunderous hit by Washington Capital Tom Wilson in the Canucks’ sixth game last October was the early turning point in Vancouver’s disastrous season.
The Czech returned for six games before last February’s Olympic break, but then was shut down for the season when hit in the face by teammate Brock Boeser’s deflected pass during a practice. And now, with his fourth injury in 18 months following his trade from the New York Rangers, Chytil has been hurt by the referee.
He is a snake bite away from joining luckless former Canuck Sami Salo, who suffered at least 40 injuries during his 15-season career but never got the credit he deserved for his toughness in always coming back until Salo’s famous “balls of steel” playoff game against the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010.
“I don't even know what happened,” Canuck defenceman Luke Schenn said of Chytil’s latest injury. “I honestly haven't talked to anyone, so I don't know if it's bad or just precautionary. But for me, he's been one of the most impressive players and eye-opening players for me in camp — just his skill set, the way he can control the puck. Even the practices before camp, I thought he was incredible. You think to yourself: if this guy can stay healthy, another big centerman with that skill set up the middle, he’s really going to help. Hopefully, it's nothing serious.”
ONE’S INJURY, ANOTHER’S OPPORTUNITY
If Chytil is going to miss the start of the season, does that push a door open a little wider for 19-year-old centre Braeden Cootes to make the Canucks?
“At this moment, you don't even want to look at it like that,” Cootes said after his third straight pre-season game. “You want to make sure he's OK. He's an awesome player. I remember seeing him last year in our home-opener and he was a stud. You know, health comes first and hopefully he gets healthy and we make sure that he's OK. I want to be a good teammate and I want him to be playing and playing at his best because he's a great player.”
Cootes could become a great player, too. After scoring or setting up all three Vancouver goals in his first two pre-season games — losses to Seattle and Calgary — Cootes went pointless against the Oilers but did show a few offensive flashes and was part of a second-unit power play that generated a goal for Linus Karlsson.
The Canucks’ fourth and final pre-season game is Saturday at Rogers Arena against the Kraken.
With Malhotra dressing most of his NHL team and leaning heavily on top centres Elias Pettersson and Marco Rossi, Cootes logged just 11:14 of ice time after starting on the fourth line between Paul Cotter and Brendan Gallagher.
“You never want to be satisfied,” Cootes, who made the Canucks’ opening lineup last season as an 18-year-old, said of his pre-season body of work. “But, you know, the games I've played so far, they've been solid. They've been pretty good. You know, I'm a young guy and they have a plan for me. I know that I'm going to trust them whatever happens. I'm going to have a good attitude and just work as hard as I can.”
Cotter, who signed in July as a free agent from the New Jersey Devils, took shifts at centre after Chytil left the game. Projected fourth-line centre Aatu Raty did not play on Thursday, and the Canucks also have forward Max Sasson as a centre option.
FIRST LINE TOPS
Although it did not score at even strength, Vancouver’s first line of Pettersson between wingers Jake DeBrusk and Karlsson was dominant territorially against an Oilers lineup that could have as few as four players advance to their NHL team for Tuesday’s opener in Edmonton against the Canucks.
Shots were 9-2 for the Canucks when Pettersson’s line was on the ice at five-on-five, and shot attempts were 16-4. Pettersson also led his team with four hits and went 16-4 on faceoffs.
“Obviously when you have quality O-zone time, it means that you're doing things right,” Malhotra said. “But the bigger picture stuff, getting pucks to the interior, attacking seams, getting pucks on net is the bigger issue. As a group overall, I think we can do a much better job offensively of getting inside and delivering pucks (to the net).”
CHRIS DRIEDGER IS A GOALIE
With a four-game pre-season and two NHL goalies to prepare for the regular season, Chris Driedger knew his professional tryout with the Canucks might not include, you know, actual game time.
But after Nikita Tolopilo played the first two periods, surrendering goals to Oilers Isaac Howard and Quinn Hutson, Malhotra gave Driedger the third period on Thursday and the 32-year-old journeyman stopped all six shots he faced.
“I’m always grateful to get on NHL ice,” Driedger said. “I played a couple of times in this barn before, but never in the home net, obviously, so it was good to get in there. It was just fun to get in there and do my thing.”
Kevin Lankinen, the Canucks’ projected starter due to Thatcher Demko’s ongoing recovery from hip surgery, is expected to play the final dress rehearsal on Saturday.
POSITIVELY POSITIVE
The Canucks are 0-3 in the pre-season and have scored four goals in three hours. This week has provided a glimpse of how the team will be challenged this season to maintain the positivity and energy the organization has generated at the early stages of its rebuild.
“That's where it all starts,” Schenn, the 36-year-old defenceman, said. “If you turn on each other and get negative. . . obviously, you're going to go the other way. We're building one day at a time. I’ve heard that the results don't matter but, obviously, to the players in this room, the results matter. We're all professional athletes, and, you know, we show up every day to try to figure out ways to win. That won't change.
“It was our first game together here. It's easy to sit and see that (the Oilers) did not have a full lineup, but. . . we did some things that we can build off of. We'll show up to work tomorrow and carry it back out on Saturday.”
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