Tuesday December 22 - Vancouver Canucks at Tampa Bay Lightning - 4:30 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 35 GP, 12-14-9, 33 points, third in Pacific Division
Tampa Bay Lightning: 34 GP, 17-14-5, 37 points, sixth in Atlantic Division
Henrik Sedin is back, but Ryan Miller is out and Chris Higgins is questionable as the Vancouver Canucks wrap up their latest road trip against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Henrik announced that he was fit to play at Tuesday's morning skate.
Though Henrik is well known for his willingness to play through injuries, it sounds like he's learning to take a more measured approach as he matures.
"I have had this throughout my career where there has been problems, but I have been able to play through them," Henrik told
Brad Ziemer of the
Vancouver Sun on Monday. "It didn’t feel fair towards the team to go out there and not be 100 per cent.
“If you can’t go into battles and you feel like when you get a pass it really needs to be on your tape for you to be able to pick it up, otherwise you are not going to get it. I think that’s where I feel I don’t want to be out there.”
Even after two games off, Henrik's 31 points still have him ranked in the top 20 in NHL scoring, while Daniel is now alone in seventh place with 35 points in 35 games.
Though Chris Higgins is said to have missed Monday's practice as a maintenance day, he didn't take Tuesday's morning skate either.
Word is that Higgins will be a game-time decision.
Also interesting—though the initial word was that the cramping that forced Ryan Miller out of the shootout against Florida on Sunday was a minor issue, the team has decided that he's not well enough to back up Jacob Markstrom tonight.
Now 25, Cannata's only previous NHL call-up came in January of 2013, for a five-day stint just before the start of the lockout year. Tonight will be his first experience in an NHL regular-season game.
Here are brief updates on the Canucks' longer-term injuries:
I thought we were looking at "after Christmas" for Sbisa. Sounds like we shouldn't be expecting him back in the lineup especially soon in the post-holiday homestand.
Though Jacob Markstrom was credited with playing zero minutes on Sunday when he stepped in to face the last two Florida Panthers in the shootout, he got credit for the overtime loss since he gave up the game-winning goal to Aleksander Barkov. At least, as a shootout goal, it doesn't count as a goal against!
The Canucks are going to need to find some run support for Markstrom tonight. The team was shut out in his last two starts, on December 17 in Philadelphia and at home to Boston on December 5.
With Henrik back in the lineup, the forward lines will be juggled a bit, which will mean a bit less responsibility for Jared McCann.
Did you catch these quotes from McCann in
Jason Botchford's Provies from Sunday's game?
You want the truth? Jared McCann didn’t want to play for Team Canada at the World Juniors.
So you can save all the “they should have let him go for gold.”
Can you handle it?
“This is my team,” McCann said. “I am a part of something I want to be a part of.
“It’s tough to explain to people who can’t understand it, to people who don’t know what this is like.
“I want to be in Vancouver.
“I wanted to stay here.”
I like "chip on his shoulder" McCann. I also liked his shootout goal against the Panthers. The kid has been put in a tough situation this season, but I have no doubt that he's doing his very best to make the most of it.
As far as the Lightning go, they're coming off a solid 5-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday. Tampa Bay hasn't been able to recapture the fine form that got them to the Stanley Cup Final last season. Injuries have been a factor; so has a mediocre 8-6-1 home record that ranks 22nd in the league and is a far cry from their league-leading 32-8-1 tally from last season.
Forward Cedric Paquette is expected back in the lineup tonight after missing 15 games with an upper-body injury, but the Lightning will go into the game without two-thirds of the Triplets line—Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat. Forwards J.T. Brown, Jonathan Drouin and Brian Boyle are also all sidelined.
For all the distractions surrounding the contract status of captain Steven Stamkos, he has snapped his recent dry spell with three goals in his last two games and is now up to 14 goals on the season.
Expect to see big Ben Bishop between the pipes. Though the Lightning are facing plenty of challenges as a team, Bishop's having the best season of his career, with a 2.00 goals-against average and .927 save percentage.
It has been a long time since the Canucks have had any kind of success against the Lightning. Tampa Bay is 6-0-1 against Vancouver since the beginning of the 2009-10 season.
After tonight, the NHL shuts down for three days for its Christmas break, so make sure you enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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