Goal-starved Vancouver Canucks make big changes to their forward lines
The Vancouver Canucks need to find more goals, and they’re changing their lineup in search of them.
The Canucks are the NHL’s lowest-scoring team since Jan. 1. They haven’t scored more than three goals in a game since a 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Jan. 27.
Head coach Rick Tocchet took matters into his own hands today, giving the forward lines a massive shakeup. The top six looks very different from the last game, with new combinations everywhere.
The forward lines looked as follows at morning skate today ahead of their matchup against the Montreal Canadiens:
O’Connor – Pettersson – Boeser
DeBrusk – Chytil – Lekkerimäki
Joshua – Blueger – Garland
Höglander – Suter – Sherwood
Elias Pettersson will skate with Drew O’Connor and Brock Boeser after mostly playing with Dakota Joshua and Conor Garland recently. Boeser is the Canucks’ most lethal goal scorer, and while many thought he’d be traded at the deadline, he’s still here and playing with Pettersson. That line needs to produce for the Canucks, although the coach is hoping to get scoring from everyone.
“We’re a committee, it’s a four-line team, and we need production from everybody, but obviously, we talked about certain guys, especially the power play; you’ve got to come up with some of these things,” said Rick Tocchet.
The Canucks also put together the line of Dakota Joshua, Teddy Blueger, and Conor Garland that had so much success last year. They put up excellent numbers last season, and Tocchet hopes they can do it again.
“I think you look at who is a distributor and who is a transporter. You try to do that,” explained Tocchet about building the lines.
Quinn Hughes was on the ice in a red non-contact jersey as he continues to work his way back from injury. That meant they rotated through multiple pairs on the backend.
Hughes is not expected to play tonight but could suit up soon. He hasn’t played since March 1 and has been dealing with injuries since January, when he first hurt his hand. Since then, he’s dealt with a reported oblique issue and now a new undisclosed injury.