VANCOUVER – Two days after coach John Tortorella said he was worried about defenseman Andrew Alberts stepping into the lineup after six weeks as a healthy scratch, the Vancouver Canucks recalled defenseman Yannick Weber from the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League.
Alberts played his first game since Oct. 24 and just his fourth of the season Friday against the Phoenix Coyotes in place of Alexander Edler, who is out indefinitely with a right knee injury. But Alberts, who has played two of his four games as a forward this season, finished with just six minutes and 33 seconds of ice time and only played one shift after the second period of the 3-2 overtime win.
It wasn't clear if Weber, who started the season in Vancouver, would get back into the lineup Sunday night against the Colorado Avalanche. The 25-year-old may simply be needed depth as the Canucks play the second half of back-to-back games against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday and didn't have any extra defensemen.
Weber, who has played 125 career NHL games, is pointless in 10 games with the Canucks, but like Alberts played some of those as a fourth-line forward. Weber scored two goals and had seven points in seven games with Utica after clearing waivers and being sent down in mid-November.
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