Injuries are an inevitability in hockey, but it鈥檚 rare that one game wipes out an entire top pairing. That鈥檚 exactly what happened to the Canucks last week: Alex Edler and Chris Tanev both left a game against the Vegas Golden Knights. Tanev is day-to-day 鈥� he won鈥檛 play Monday night against the Minnesota Wild 鈥� but Edler is expected to miss 3-6 weeks with an MCL sprain.
That puts , particularly Ben Hutton and Erik Gudbranson, who have had to fill in for Edler and Tanev as the top pairing.
That means big minutes and tough opposition. On Saturday, Sidney Crosby played 14:36 at 5-on-5; over 11 of those minutes were against the pairing of Hutton and Gudbranson.
鈥淲e鈥檙e asking a lot out of guys,鈥� said Green on Monday morning. 鈥淲e鈥檙e replacing 25 minutes out of two guys and you鈥檙e asking someone else, not only to play those minutes, but to play against the best players in the world.鈥�
Edler and Tanev have played some of the hardest minutes in the NHL so far this season, which has allowed Green to . Now, that shelter is gone and, to , a hard rain鈥檚 a-gonna fall.
鈥淭anny and the Eagle are our top-two d-men and with them going down, it鈥檚 some big minutes,鈥� said Hutton. 鈥淓veryone has to climb the ladder and battle a little bit harder and play a little bit smarter.鈥�
The preparation doesn鈥檛 change much, however, even when you鈥檙e bumped up the lineup and know you鈥檒l be facing difficult competition.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to stick to your gameplan, as much as you gotta know who you鈥檙e playing, someone like Sidney Crosby or something like that,鈥� said Hutton. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to play your game: hard, make simple plays and when you get the chance to jump up in the rush, do it.鈥�
鈥淓ach night you don鈥檛 exactly know who you鈥檙e going to be playing,鈥� he added. 鈥淔or example, when we played Pittsburgh, I didn鈥檛 know if I was going to be against the Crosby line or the Malkin line, and it鈥檚 not perfect matchups, no matter where you are. You鈥檝e gotta know every player out there and what they鈥檙e capable of.鈥�
For Gudbranson, the knowledge that you鈥檒l be facing some of the best players in the world helps him focus on his game.
鈥淚t makes for a hard night, but it also gives you that level of focus, that you have a job to do,鈥� said Gudbranson. 鈥淵our game is not expected to be pretty, you鈥檙e not necessarily expected to get up in the rush at all times and create those offensive opportunities, but shutting them down is your job for the night and making it hard on guys.鈥�
Gudbranson talked about the importance of minimizing mistakes when you鈥檙e in that shutdown role, but acknowledged that mistakes will happen no matter what 鈥� 鈥淵ou play against top lines like that every night, they鈥檙e going to get their chances.鈥� For how he handles mistakes during a game, he turns to the words of a former teammate.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a saying that a former teammate of mine, a former Canuck, Willie Mitchell said to me: 鈥業t鈥檚 never the first mistake that ends up in your net, it鈥檚 always the second,鈥欌�� said Gudbranson. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the second consecutive one.鈥�
鈥淚f they get an opportunity, okay: you get 鈥榚m back next shift,鈥� he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the way the game of hockey is played now, it really is quite a bit of a chess match. It鈥檚 so systematic, it鈥檚 so heavily coached that you gotta do what鈥檚 in front of you and consistently do it, and if they get another opportunity the next shift, you come back at them the shift after that and don鈥檛 let them do it, just remind them that you鈥檙e there for the rest of the night.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a tough job but it鈥檚 a lot of fun.鈥�
So far this season, Green has stuck with consistent defence partners 鈥� only three pairings have played over 100 minutes together at 5-on-5. Of those three, Hutton and Gudbranson have been on the ice for the most goals against, but there鈥檚 some indication in the numbers that they鈥檝e played better defensively than those goals against would suggest.
Hutton and Gudbranson have the lowest rate of expected goals against of any of the Canucks鈥� defence pairings, as calculated by , while Hutton leads all Canucks鈥� defencemen with the lowest rate of scoring chances against according to .
Green, who seemed loath to praise Hutton last season, was practically effusive with it on Monday.
鈥淚 think preparation for him has put him in a spot that he can play with confidence and that鈥檚 a big thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to say 鈥榖e confident,鈥� but if you鈥檙e not prepared...he鈥檚 put in the work and now he鈥檚 getting the opportunity and he鈥檚 ready for it. He鈥檚 playing well. He鈥檚 got to continue that, but I鈥檓 happy for him.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 been very good,鈥� said Gudbranson about his defence partner. 鈥淗is confidence is definitely there comparatively to how we played together the prior years. He鈥檚 grown. He鈥檚 grown immensely, in fact. I think he鈥檚 doing a great job, he鈥檚 been extremely professional about going about his business over the past few years. It鈥檚 impressive to see a guy鈥檚 game go up like that.鈥�
Hutton is quick to credit Gudbranson as well.
鈥淚 think me and Guddy, since we鈥檝e been paired up together, have had pretty good chemistry,鈥� said Hutton. 鈥淲e work well off each other and we鈥檙e not afraid to talk things out. You know, not every single shift is going to be perfect, so when we get to the bench, we have no problem sorting it out, talking it out, and I think that helps us a lot.鈥�
Some of those imperfect shifts struck towards the end of the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. After shutting down the Crosby line very effectively in the first period and still playing well through the second, the train came off the rails in the third period.
鈥淚 think Hutty and I have played well. You know, obviously that鈥檚 excluding the last ten minutes of that Pittsburgh game,鈥� said Gudbranson. 鈥淭hat last game, it bugged us, we took it personally, and we want to be better. It鈥檚 a challenge, it鈥檚 an opportunity for us, we鈥檙e gonna make the best of it.鈥�
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