The Vancouver Canucks are a reflection of their environment: when it rains, it pours.
Like the Pacific Northwest, the Canucks can get depressing during the winter months. Their version of Seasonal Affective Disorder is the Injured Reserve list.
Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi, Brandon Sutter, and Erik Gudbranson are already out of the lineup with injuries; they’ll be joined by Chris Tanev. He left the Canucks game against the Nashville Predators early in the third period and was seen limping after the game. On Thursday, he underwent an MRI.
On Friday, Travis Green confirmed that Chris Tanev will be out of the lineup for the next 2-3 weeks with a groin strain.
Tanev played just one shift after taking two hits by Austin Watson. The gif below captures the first of these hits, but I suspect he was actually injured a couple moments later, when he took a late shove after passing the puck out of the zone and seemed to fall awkwardly.
First clip - play where Tanev was likely injured
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) December 14, 2017
Second clip - on his next shift, Tanev rushes the puck up ice and then peels off in obvious discomfort#Canucks pic.twitter.com/7wQjKIHqzT
After the hit, Tanev started to rush the puck up ice, then abruptly stopped and made his way directly to the bench and down the tunnel.
This is brutal news for the Canucks. If Horvat is the most important forward on the team, Tanev is the most important defenceman. He already missed seven games with a fractured thumb earlier this season and the Canucks immediately began to allow more shots on goal.
Tanev is one of the best shutdown defencemen in the NHL and the Canucks’ most important penalty killer. He plays big minutes against tough opponents and generally comes out on top.
Even in Wednesday’s 7-1 debacle against the Nashville Predators, Tanev and his partner Ben Hutton were the only Canucks defenceman not on the ice for an even-strength goal against, and shots were even at 7-7.
Last time Tanev was injured, the Canucks’ defence was thrown into disarray. This time around, Travis Green and Nolan Baumgartner seem to have a better handle on how to deal with his absence.
At the Canucks’ morning skate on Friday, Alex Edler was paired with Derrick Pouliot, a pairing that was very effective when Tanev broke his thumb. It’s a pairing that could provide some offensive kick with their ability to quickly transition the puck up ice.
On the second pairing, Ben Hutton was matched up with Troy Stecher. That pairing is second among Canucks’ pairings this season in corsi percentage: when they’ve been on the ice together at even-strength, shot attempts are 113 to 105 in the Canucks’ favour.
That leaves Michael Del Zotto on a third pairing with Alex Biega. That’s not an ideal pairing, but Biega has held his own this season after a terrible 2016-17 season and, in limited minutes, that pairing might be able to keep its head above water.
So far, the Canucks have lost four-straight with Horvat out of the lineup. The subsequent injuries to Baertschi and Tanev make it likely that streak will continue.
