Brock Boeser has seven primary assists this season, and the five centres he has played with on the Vancouver Canucks’ second line have none.

Without a National Hockey League playmaker down the middle, winger Conor Garland had been creating scoring chances for Boeser from the opposite side of the line, but now Garland is hurt, too.

“That’s the definition of this year,” Boeser lamented after Monday’s practice in El Segundo, Calif. “I mean, it’s hasn’t been the greatest of luck. And finally, when you start to get some confidence, something like this happens.”

After missing Saturday’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings with an undisclosed injury, Garland was scheduled to fly home to Vancouver Monday afternoon for further medical evaluation while the Canucks travelled to Denver to ta

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