Scenes from practice: Mancini and Forbort back with Canucks two days before season opener

The Canucks practiced in their black gear, providing a likely preview of how they’ll line up against the Flames on opening night.

Derek Forbort skated with the group for the first time since last Wednesday’s preseason game in Calgary. And Victor Mancini, recalled from Abbotsford on Tuesday morning, was also back with the main practice group.

Linus Karlsson was the lone extra healthy forward on the ice, as according to General Manager Patrik Allvin, Teddy Blueger will likely miss the first week of game action.

Blueger’s absence will have a significant impact on the team’s penalty killing. When the Canucks worked on special teams on Tuesday, Kiefer Sherwood and Drew O’Connor served as the primary penalty killing forwards. Aatu Räty and Arshdeep Bains were a secondary penalty killing duo at practice. However, it’s important to note that in order to practice the penalty kill, the Canucks had to have players on the power play. So forwards like Conor Garland, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser were busy on the offensive side of drills. They will likely be used in a penalty killing capacity in game action.

The Canucks showed no new wrinkles with their top power play unit: Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk and Evander Kane. That quintet played together in a couple of preseason games. Youngsters Braeden Cootes and Jonathan Lekkerimäki featured on the second unit along with veterans Conor Garland, Filip Chytil and Filip Hronek.

The Canucks are slated to skate again on Wednesday morning at Rogers Arena while the Flames open their season in Edmonton later that night. Calgary will be here on the back half of an early-season back-to-back set.

What we heard

Adam Foote on expectation for Braeden Cootes now that he’s made the opening night roster: “I don’t want to project. He may be able to handle things better than other young guys. And some things, he may not. Whether the schedule gets tough, more demanding or playing heavier guys, we’ll see. But I think his brain is there and we’re going to take it one game at a time.”

Quinn Hughes on what’s in store for 18-year-old Cootes on Thursday night: “I’m excited for him. Rookie lap will be pretty cool. It’s something you always remember. He should just enjoy it because he’s going to play a long time, but you only have one first game.”

Braeden Cootes on handling the attention that comes with life in the NHL: “I’m from Edmonton so I know all about it. It’s just normal for me. I know there is a lot of pressure in Canada, but winning in Canada means so much.”