The Vancouver Canucks are in St. Louis tonight to battle the Blues in what will be the first meeting between the two teams since Vancouver swept St. Louis in the first round of last year's NHL playoffs. The Canucks are coming off a 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Friday while the struggling Blues are trying to snap a 3 game losing streak.
The Canucks will have Roberto Luongo back in the lineup after missing 2 weeks with a fractured rib, but because of a bout with the flu (seasonal, not H1N1) he will be backing up the NHL's GAA leader Andrew Raycroft. Luongo is expected to get the start on Thursday in Detroit.
Along with Luongo, Vancouver is expecting to have both Daniel Sedin (foot) and Jannik Hansen (hand) back in the lineup Thursday night barring any setbacks. Hansen hasn't played a game all season as he was injured in the pre-season while Daniel Sedin has been out since Oct. 10th.
The lines for tonight are as follows. (source)
Burrows Sedin Bernier
Raymond Kesler Samuelsson
Glass Wellwood Rypien
Hordichuk Johnson Pettinger
Ehrhoff Bieksa
Edler Mitchell
O'Brien Salo
Raycroft
Luongo
Healthy Scratches:
Bliznak
Rome
Schneider
Our take: Definitely some positive news with Luongo, Sedin and Hansen nearing their returns to the lineup, and it's been almost miraculous that they have managed to stay above water with those key guys out. Luckily Andrew Raycroft has been marvelous and he is - at least statistically - the best goalie in the NHL this year.
With Luongo back in the lineup, Vancouver sent Corey Schneider back to the Moose. Also, once Sedin and Hansen are back, the Canucks will have to waive someone in order to be roster compliant. Matt Pettinger is the likely candidate despite playing quite well as an emergency injury signing.
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