Boeser will play first game for Canucks in almost a month

Tonight’s 50/50 will surpass a million dollars, but the Canucks must feel like they’ve already hit the jackpot.

That’s because Brock Boeser has confirmed that he will make his return to the lineup at home against the Los Angeles Kings – his first game since November 2.

Boeser has been dealing with a nagging groin/adductor injury all season. He tried playing through pain — to some success with 11 points in 13 games — but never looked quite right. He had clearly lost a step in his skating stride and was missing a bit of juice on his shot as well.

Boeser sat out a pair of games on October 24 and 25, but returned prematurely on October 27. Four games later and the injury got worse. The 21-year-old winger says this time he’s 100%.

“This is a lot different than last time when I missed those two games,” Boeser told reporters after Tuesday’s optional morning skate. “I feel the best I’ve felt in a while. Hips down, I feel really confident within myself and I’m going to move a lot better out there than before.”

“Brock is a warrior and we’re pumped to have him back. It’s nice to be home too, we missed our building and our fans.” – @Jake_Virtanen

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 27, 2018

Boeser should provide a big boost to a Canucks team that’s finally starting to get some good news with regards to injuries. They’re now fully healthy in goal and on defence, after Anders Nilsson played Friday and Edler returned on Saturday.

They’ve still got injuries to a number of forwards, but Boeser was the most valuable player sitting out.

Given how he lined up at practice, bet on Boeser playing on a line with Elias Pettersson and Nikolay Goldobin. He also set up in his usual spot on the first-unit power play, along with Pettersson, Edler, Bo Horvat, and Sam Gagner.

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