Canucks Homestand
Since taking over the St. Louis Blues, head coach Jim Montgomery has gone 4-1-and-1. Although the Blue Notes are still four points out of wild card position in the west, they’ve put themselves back in the conversation.
“A really good rush team, they’re playing well,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet commented Tuesday morning. “Monty’s obviously a good coach, but they’re playing faster, so our rush defence has to be up to par. I thought we did a pretty good job 5-on-5 against Tampa, so same kind of neutral zone attitude tonight.”
Up front Jordan Kyrou leads the team in scoring with 23 points, although some would argue he’s been underachieving to some extent, Robert Thomas is a point-a-game player (16 in 16) coming off injury, while veteran Brayden Schenn has picked up the scoring pace after a slow start.
Blueline injuries to Torey Krug and Nick Leddy have depleted the D-depth, with Monty shuffling players around on the bottom pair. P.O. Olivier will start on the left side in place of Scott Perunovich.
A top-pair defenceman is Philip Broberg, an offer-sheet acquisition this summer from the Edmonton Oilers along with 3rd-line winger Dylan Holloway.
Joel Hofer gets the start in net on Tuesday night against Thatcher Demko of the Canucks.
