The Vancouver Canucks will welcome the Montreal Canadiens to town tonight as they look to stay relevant in the playoff race. The team currently sits six points back of St. Louis and though it is a very outside possibility, they want to stay in it as long as possible. They’ll have to shake up their lineup tonight, as Loui Eriksson will be out for “a week to two weeks” according to Willie Desjardins. In his place, the newly acquired Nikolay Goldobin will get a chance to skate with Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi on the team’s second line. He’s excited about the prospect, and amazed at the amount of media talking to him prior to the game; “It wasn’t like this in San Jose!” he said before going on to say how happy he was to be in Vancouver.
- The team also relayed the news that Jacob Markstrom is still “at least a week away”, but did skate before the practice by himself. Markstrom hasn’t played since February 16th but would be a big help to the Canucks down the stretch if he can get back. The 27-year old goaltender looks like he’ll get a shot at the starting job next year as Ryan Miller is a free agent this summer. Markstrom’s extension will come into play next year, which will see him paid $3.67MM per year for the next three seasons.
- 22-year old Nikita Tryamkin has been a revelation for the Canucks this season, as he’s shown his capability to be a part of their defense going forward and showcased his big-hit ability early in the season. He has been out since February 19th though, and still isn’t quite ready to return. Despite skating earlier this morning with the team, he’ll miss his sixth straight game.
Vans coach may need to get fired for not playing the new kid enough, they say