The Vancouver Canucks are set to kick off their first road trip of the season as they face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks. The Canucks start the year with an 0-0-2 record, dropping their first two games against the Calgary Flames in overtime and Philadelphia Flyers in a shootout.
The game isn’t the only thing the Canucks lost against the Flyers, as 34-year-old defenceman Tyler Myers left the game just 36 seconds into his first shift of the game. Myers awkwardly collided with Flyers forward Joel Farabee into the boards, having his left knee buckle up on him. The defenceman was left ailing on the ice, needing help from teammates and medical staff to get off the ice and to the locker room.
Luckily for the Canucks, the injury was not as bad as initially thought, as head coach Rick Tocchet designated Myers as day-to-day and said that he would travel with the team on their upcoming road trip. And the day before their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Myers was back on the ice skating.
“He actually felt pretty good,” Tocchet said about his injured defenceman. “I mean, there’s still a little bit of stuff there, but we’re very fortunate we dodged a bullet to see him out there skating after last game. I think it was initial shock, but he feels pretty good.”
The 6’8″ defenceman signed a three-year, $9 million extension with the Canucks earlier this offseason. He has spent the last five seasons in Vancouver, registering 19 goals and 87 assists for 106 points in 360 games while averaging 20+ minutes of ice time per game in four of those seasons.
The Canucks are already thin on the right side of their defence with Filip Hronek, Myers, Vincent Desharnais and Noah Juulsen with the main roster, and Mark Friedman and Jett Woo in the American League. The club has yet to call up another defenceman, indicating that Myers may not be missing many, if any, games due to this injury.
