Subscribe
Follow Us
The Vancouver Canucks have been without star forward Brock Boeser for each of the last seven games — but the absence will end on the road on Tuesday night. Boeser will return to the lineup at TD Garden against the Boston Bruins in a 2011 Stanley Cup Final rematch, head coach Rick Tocchet confirmed.
“He’ll play today,” the bench boss said after the morning skate, according to NHL.com's Kevin Woodley. “He came to me yesterday. He wants to play. Those situations, when you’re medically cleared, then it’s the player’s decision I always think. And a guy like Brock, he wants to play every game. He’s played a lot of hockey for us over the years. It’s good to have a guy like that in the lineup.”
Boeser sustained an upper-body injury on a dirty hit by Los Angeles Kings forward Tanner Jeannot on November 7. Jeannot was assessed a match penalty for an illegal check to the head and subsequently suspended for three games by the NHL Department of Player Safety.
“Felt great,” Boeser said after practicing fully on Monday, per Woodley. “Anytime you get to go back out there with your teammates and be able to skate full contact, it's a nice little treat. … It was my first full-contact practice, so we'll see how the rest of the day goes and if all good, then hopefully I'm in [Tuesday].”
Boeser resumed skating last week, and practiced a couple of times in a noncontact jersey before joining the Canucks in Massachusetts on Monday. The American's return will be a huge boost for a team that has lost three of five games dating back to November 14. Boeser skated on a line with Danton Heinen and Teddy Blueger at the morning skate.
It's the first time Vancouver and Boston will meet this season; the cross-conference rivals will face off again in British Columbia on December 14.
“You’re playing a Bruins team that’s playing really tight; I think they’ve only let in one goal, I think, in the last couple of games,” Tocchet said, per Woodley. “Always known as a good, structured defensive team that plays a team game. So, when you can add a guy like a Brock Boeser, who doesn’t need a lot of chances to score, it helps when you play a team that’s really tight, plays tight defensively.”
Canucks coming off big road win against Senators
Despite a bit of a cold spell, Vancouver got back on track on Saturday night in Canada's capital, beating the Ottawa Senators 4-3 on Hockey Night in Canada. It was a big win considering the team was down both Boeser and JT Miller; the latter has missed two contests after taking a personal leave of absence.
The Canucks are in the midst of a long six-game road trip, with five games left before they return to Vancouver. Boeser is in a five-way tie for the team lead in goal scoring, with six goals and 11 points in 12 games. After setting career highs with 40 goals and 73 points in 81 games in 2023-24, he'll look to continue producing in Boston on Tuesday.
“It's always hard to mimic game shape but they've bagged me a few times and pushed me really hard,” the 27-year-old said, per Woodley. “I've been working hard, and I've been feeling better and better out there and it's just really hard to judge until you step in that first game, and just got to make sure you keep short shifts and control it that way.”
Puck drops between the Canucks and Bruins just past 7:00 p.m. ET from TD Garden.
