The Canucks are in St. Louis getting set to play Game 3 of their opening round playoff series against the Blues. The Canucks had Willie Mitchell and the healthy scratches and both goalies skate this morning while the Blues had a full team skate.
The big news out of morning skate came with Paul Kariya skating for the first time since November. No word yet on whether or not he'll dress tonight, but it is doubtful as he was the last skater on the ice, well after everyone had left.
Vancouver is coming off their 6th career post season shut-out. Kirk McLean rattled off four shut-outs in 1994, the last coming May 22 in a 2-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Richard Brodeur posted the first ever shut-out playoff win by a Canucks goalie, which was a 8-0 win over the Calgary Flames April 7, 1984. In his last five straight starts this month, Roberto Luongo has collected three shut-outs and has stopped 144 of 146 shots, good for a save percentage of 98.6%.
The Canucks went 21-15-3 on the road this season, which was the 5th best of any team in the Western Conference. However in their last ten road games of the year, they went 5-4-1, with two of their wins coming in overtime.
As for the Blues, they went 23-13-5 at the Scottrade Center this season. In their last ten games on home ice, the Blues went 8-2-0, with the only losses coming to the Detroit Red Wings. They have won seven straight Game 3's in playoff series.
Here are the expected line-ups for both teams entering tonight's action:
Canucks:
D. Sedin - H. Sedin - Burrows
Demitra - Sundin - Kesler
Raymond - Wellwood - Bernier
Hordichuk - Johnson - Rypien
Mitchell - Salo
Ohlund - Bieksa
Edler - O'Brien
Luongo
LaBarbera
Blues:
Andy McDonald - David Backes - Brad Boyes
T.J. Oshie - Patrik Berglund - David Perron
Brad Winchester - Keith Tkachuk - Dan Hinote
Alex Steen - Jay McClement - B.J. Crombeen
Barret Jackman - Roman Polak
Jeff Woywitka - Carlo Colaiacovo
Mike Weaver - Jay McKee
Chris Mason
Ben Bishop
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