The Vancouver Canucks are dealing with several injuries as they prepare to play the Nashville Predators on Thursday night in Nashville.
The most serious and concerning is to Filip Chytil.
The center, 26, may have suffered the sixth concussion of his career in the first period of Sunday’s 4-3 road win over the Washington Capitals on a legal hit (to the chest) by Tom Wilson.
The seemingly woozy Chytil was helped from the ice, did not return to the game and was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 19 on Monday.
“I’ve been kept up to date by the team every day, and he is being monitored. We are always very concerned after a significant bodycheck like this one,” Chytil’s agent J.P. Berry wrote in an email to The Province.
There has been speculation that Chytil’s career is in jeopardy.
Winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki also left that game with a right shoulder/arm injury and did not return, and he was also placed on IR retroactive to Oct. 19. Teddy Blueger finished the contest Sunday but sustained a left leg injury and missed Tuesday night’s 5-1 loss to the Penguins in Pittsburgh.
Vancouver general manager Patrick Allvin said all three players were “still being evaluated”.
Defenseman Derek Forbort was placed on IR before the road trip with an undisclosed injury.
In addition, Brock Boeser has missed the last two games due to a personal matter. Coach Adam Foote says he could return Thursday.
Conor Garland’s goal 1:18 into the game gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead on Tuesday.
“We could’ve been up 3-, 4-0 in the first 10 minutes, but it didn’t happen,” Foote said. “I think you run out of a little bit of gas.”
The Predators have lost four straight (0-3-1) and five of their last six after a 5-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at home on Tuesday.
“It wasn’t good,” Predators captain and defenseman Roman Josi said. “We kind of gave them all their goals. I felt like it was really easy goals for them. Just mistakes we made, losing too many battles. It’s just kind of not the game you want to play. I feel like we played to their strength, which is like a wide-open game. They’re very skilled and fast, and that’s not how we’re successful. That’s why we lost tonight.”
Tyson Jost and Filip Forsberg scored for Nashville, and Juuse Saros made 28 saves.
“I think we’ve got some young (defensemen), and they had a hard night,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “They’re a fast team. They closed on us fast, and we had a lot of trouble kind of getting our engine going. I think if you watch our games and we’re really going, our defense is moving the puck, and it’s clean and it’s quick and it’s fast. It allows us to get in the other zone.
“Today, I just thought we were sloppy. We were slow. We lost a lot of puck battles. We had no urgency going back for pucks.”
Forward Jonathan Marchessault has missed the past two games with a lower-body injury. Nashville returned 18-year-old Brady Martin — the No. 5 overall pick in June’s draft — to the junior OHL Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
