Canucks’ Ryan Miller Has Injury Setback
According to a report from TSN’s Farhan Lalji earlier today, Ryan Miller will not even begin to resume skating until after the regular season has concluded.
Ryan Miller will not be back playing for #canucks before the playoffs. More coming up on @TSN1040
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) March 18, 2015
The injured Vancouver Canucks netminder went down on February 22nd after colliding with teammate Jannik Hansen in his crease, and was diagnosed with a sprained right knee. The original timeline for a return was 4-6 weeks, but he seems to have suffered a bit of a setback. The team is now hoping he can resume skating in another three weeks.
Eddie Lack is 8th in the league on “medium danger” shots (.945) and 46th on “high danger” shots (.812), according to War-On-Ice. (InGoal Photo by Clint Trahan)
This, of course, means that Eddie Lack will be the Canucks starting goaltender for the rest of the season, and into the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Lack has performed well this season, posting a .921 save percentage (.924 at even strength) in 24 starts. Since Miller went down with the injury, Lack has had a sparkling .934 save percentage, leading the Canucks to six wins in the middle of a heated playoff battle.
Unlike last year, Lack has seemingly become steadier as the season has gone on. He was named the starter last season after Roberto Luongo was traded, and went 9-15-4, with a .905 save percentage and 2.64 goals against average in his final 28 games of the season.
As a sophomore this time, he’s prepared. He attributes that to having a strong off-season, meaning he recovers faster and feels stronger day-to-day. He spoke to InGoal’s Kevin Woodley about it earlier this year.
“I told myself, ‘If you really want to play in this league and be a good goalie in this league you need to prepare the best you can,'” Lack said. “The biggest part about feeling good this year comes from my body feeling good. I’m not in pain. I don’t have to stretch for half an hour just to be able to get on the ice in the first place.”
With Miller’s setback, the Canucks certainly hope that the season continues to trend in a positive way for Lack. The games are only going to get more important, and it’s quite possible that the 27-year-old Swede will be getting his first taste of playoff action.
