Canucks at Blues
The Vancouver Canucks wrap up their seven-game road trip when they visit the well-rested St. Louis Blues on Friday. Vancouver improved to 4-1-1 on its trek with a 3-2 shootout victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. Daniel Sedin forged a tie midway through the second period and Mike Santorelli scored the only goal of the bonus format as the Canucks went beyond regulation for the third time over the first six games of the trek.
While the Canucks play their third contest in four nights, the Blues return to action for the first time since suffering a shootout loss at Winnipeg last Friday. St. Louis has earned at least one point in six of its first seven games, suffering its only regulation loss against the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 15. The Blues could face Canucks backup goaltender Eddie Lack as Roberto Luongo, who notched the win against the Devils, has yet to play on consecutive nights this season.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, RSN Pacific (Vancouver), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (7-4-1): Vancouver has lost three forwards to injuries in its last two games. After Jannik Hansen went down with an upper-body ailment Tuesday against the New York Islanders, David Booth and Dale Weise suffered lower-body injuries in the first period Thursday. As a precaution, Pascal Pelletier and Darren Archibald were recalled from Utica of the American Hockey League after the win.
ABOUT THE BLUES (5-1-1): St. Louis' offense has begun to sputter as the club has scored a total of seven goals over its last three games after netting 19 in its first four contests. Alex Steen (seven) and captain David Backes have combined for 13 goals, equaling the total of the rest of the team. Steen is one goal shy of his total from last season, when he tallied eight times in 40 games.
OVERTIME
1. St. Louis LW Brenden Morrow and D Barret Jackman are expected to return to the lineup after missing one game due to upper-body injuries.
2. The Blues are 3-0-1 in their last four regular-season meetings with the Canucks at home.
3. Vancouver captain Henrik Sedin notched two assists Thursday to extend his point streak to seven games.