The Vancouver Canucks will try to overcome three potential absences on the blue-line when they host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night (CBC, 10:00 p.m. ET) at GM Place.
Battling for the final playoff position in the Western Conference, the Canucks (33-24-10) matched their highest goal total of the season with a 6-2 home victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.
Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa throws a punch while fighting Nashville blue-liner Greg de Vries on Thursday night.
(Richard Lam/Canadian Press)
The Canucks endured despite playing without defenceman Mattias Ohlund, and losing the services of blue-liners Aaron Miller and Kevin Bieska against Nashville.
Vancouver, which trails the Predators by two points for the eighth playoff spot in the West, got a big offensive boost with six Canucks scoring.
"We started with a lot of urgency, and urgency was warranted and needed," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault told the team's website. "It was a very important game for us and our guys did what they've done throughout the year: they got ready to play hard."
The win moved Vancouver into an eighth-place tie with Nashville, but the Predators rebounded with a 2-1 overtime victory against the Calgary Flames.
The Canucks will likely face the Blues without Ohlund, Miller and Bieksa.
Ohlund, who leads all Canucks defencemen with 22 points, missed Thursday's win with bone chips in his left knee. Vigneault said the team will allow four to six days for the swelling to ease before re-evaluating Ohlund's condition
If the pain persists, and the bone chips prove to be a problem, Ohlund will have arthroscopic surgery to remove the fragments and will sit out the rest of the regular season, the club said.
Miller, meanwhile, was drilled by Predators forward Jordin Tootoo with 1:32 remaining in the third period and headed straight for the locker room. Miller's status against the Blues remains unknown, but the hit sparked a fight that resulted in Bieksa receiving an instigator penalty for dropping the gloves with Vernon Fiddler.
Bieksa's penalty carries an automatic, but reviewable, one-game suspension. Bieksa also exchanged blows with Nashville blue-liner Greg de Vries in the third period.
The potential loss will put more pressure on goaltender Roberto Luongo to keep the Canucks in playoff contention.
Luongo is only 1-2-2 in the team's last five games with a 2.66 goals-against average, but hasn't lost to the Blues in the last five home games.
The Quebec native is 3-0-2 against St. Louis, including three straight victories at GM Place while sporting a 1.93 GAA.
The Blues (29-28-10) are 1-6-1 in their last eight games and have seen their once-promising playoff aspirations fade. St. Loius stands in 13th in the West with 68 points and is coming off a 4-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
The Blues have also been outscored 22-8 during their recent slide, which includes two shutout losses.
With files from the Associated Press
