A shot by Winnipeg Jets’ Ben Chiarot
GAME DAY: VANCOUVER AT DALLAS, 4 P.M.
VANCOUVER — After watching Chris Tanev carried out on his shield yet again, the question for the Vancouver Canucks isn’t about the defenceman’s value to the team or the respect he’s earned in the locker room.
No, following the 3-2 shootout loss to New Jersey on Friday night, the Canucks lined up to offer testimonials to Tanev’s courage and character — qualities that make him indispensable when he’s healthy, but also expose him to injury.
During a first-period Devils power play, the veteran rearguard blocked a Kyle Palmieri slap shot and suffered what appeared to be a season-ending foot injury for his troubles.
The Canucks, who are paperthin on the blue-line at the best of times, now face life without Tanev — again. He’s a difference-maker when he’s in the lineup. But he can’t stay healthy long enough to make that difference, and that’s a problem.
“He’s fearless and you guys would be amazed how many injuries he plays through where he doesn’t miss a game,” said Troy Stecher. “He’s my captain every single night. I feel fortunate to be his teammate. You feel bad for him, obviously.” For the player and the team. “Good guy and a good player,” goalie Jacob Markstrom said. “He’s a guy we need on our team. That guy’s luck is unbelievable. Pretty much every injury he’s had, it’s from blocking shots.”
This will be Tanev’s third trip to the infirmary this season. He had just returned for Wednesday’s win over the Rangers after missing 11 games with an ankle injury that, remarkably, didn’t arise from a blocked shot. He had also missed five games earlier in the season, which means he’ll miss 28 Canucks games this season.
Last season it was 40. The year before it was 29.
That’s bad enough. But compounding the problem is Alex Edler, the team’s best all-around defenceman, is also injury-prone. This year, the longest-serving Canuck had a 15-game stint on injured reserve that ran through most of November, and he’s just returned from an 11-gamer after suffering a concussion against the Flyers.
When Tanev and Edler are both in the lineup, the Canucks are 21-14-5 this season. When they’re out, they’re 8-18-5, which is the difference between a playoff team and another ticket in the draft lottery.
The Canucks were also off to a 6-4 start when Edler went down with a knee injury Oct. 24. The team went 4-9-2 without him in the lineup — a stretch that coincided with Tanev’s earlier injury — then went 13-10-4 before Edler was knocked out with a concussion during a Feb. 4 game in Philadelphia.
“They’re huge parts for our team,” said Alex Biega. “It’s unfortunate. It seems like ever since I’ve been here those guys have been injured a lot.”
And Without Tanev, Edler and Stecher logged more than 29 minutes against the Devils, including just under 12 minutes each in the third period and overtime. Alex Biega also logged a season-high 25:37 against the Devils.
“We’ve got some guys playing big minutes,” said Canucks head coach Travis Green following the game. “I mean, Alex Biega played 25 minutes tonight. Is it frustrating? Yeah.”
Friday night also marked Edler’s fifth straight game with at least 26 minutes of ice time, and while he’s performed admirably, that workload leaves the veteran Swede vulnerable to further injury.
The Canucks, in fact, have been trapped in a cycle for the past four years. They show some encouraging signs. Then Edler gets hurt. Then Tanev gets hurt. Then the bottom falls out of their season.
So how do they break that cycle? Good question.
GM Jim Benning has said he’ll look to restructure the blue-line in the off-season. In the meantime, Quinn Hughes, the prize rookie who just signed out of Michigan, will play some games over the final couple of weeks and he’ll help. But it’s also unrealistic to expect a 19-year-old rookie to fix the defence.
Ben Hutton, who took a step in his development, also figures to be part of the future, but he’s missed the past five games with a foot injury of his own.
On paper, a defence with Edler, Tanev, Stecher, Hutton and Hughes figures to be an improvement for the Canucks, with Edler and Tanev providing a steadying influence. But it’s difficult to provide that steadying influence when your presence in the lineup is sporadic.
WINNIPEG 2 CALGARY 1
Winnipeg Jets winger Mathieu Perreault felt like he had scored a game-winning goal in the playoffs.
In reality, it was just a regularseason game between two Western Conference heavyweights — but the Jets’ 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames had extra juice.
“The 2-1 games, you know, this is playoff-type hockey,” said Perreault, who supplied the goahead goal on the power play in the second period. “That’s what we want.”
Perreault notched his 14th goal of the season, helping snap the Flames’ three-game win streak. He now has three goals in his past four games after a 14-game scoreless drought.
The Flames needed at least one point to clinch a playoff spot or have Minnesota lose to the New York Rangers in their Saturday game, but the Wild won 5-2.
Mark Scheifele scored his 34th goal of the season for the Jets (42-25-4) and Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves for his 30th win of the season.
Mark Jankowski had a goal for the Flames (43-21-7) and Mike Smith stopped 19 shots.
Winnipeg remains in top spot in the Central Division. The Flames came into the game in first place in the Pacific Division and Western Conference.