Three Vancouver police officers have been sent to hospital in recent days to be treated for injuries they received while dealing with crowds of Canucks fans downtown.

Spokeswoman Const. Jana McGuinness told reporters Wednesday that although the mobs of hockey enthusiasts have been generally well behaved on Stanley Cup Final game nights, officers have faced a few "challenges."

"Over the course of the last few games, we have had three officers go to hospital, one with a broken nose, one with facial injuries from a pretty significant punch, and also one officer suffered a concussion in a fall, all from dealing in the crowds," McGuinness said.

Vancouver police officers are stepping up their presence in downtown fan zones as the playoffs progress, and other local departments have been put on notice that they may be called on to send in reinforcements.

Police predict that crowds will only get larger as the final prize draws close. During Monday's crushing 8-1 loss to Boston, an estimated 35,000 people flooded into downtown, down from 80,000 on Saturday.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Lisa Rossington