Defencemen injuries are already piling up early in the NHL playoffs
There were 70 goals scored over the first 10 games in the first round, a product of not just hot offence sparked by some of the league’s top players but team-wide struggles to keep the puck out of the net.
Hours after the news broke that the Vancouver Canucks will be without starting goaltender Thatcher Demko for Game 2 and possibly longer, the Canucks are down one more man.
Defenceman Tyler Myers did not participate in the pre-game warmup skate and was listed as a scratch prior to puck drop against the Nashville Predators, per the NHL’s roster report.
Noah Juulsen replaced him on the second pairing, alongside Carson Soucy.
Myers, 34, logged 19:08 in Game 1 and was a plus-one on the evening.
The six-foot-four defenceman has, like most of the Canucks, enjoyed a bounce-back season on both ends of the ice, improving to plus-16 on the year while potting 29 points — both measures significantly higher than the minus-16, 17-point season in 2022-23.
The shorthanded Canucks look to take a 2-0 series lead over the Predators at Rogers Arena. Watch all the action on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ with coverage starting at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.