The Vancouver Canucks are operating without their star goalie, yet the team has barely missed a beat.
Tonight Andrew Raycroft will be looking to continue his strong play as the Canucks host the New York Rangers.
In Roberto Luongo's absence due to a hairline rib fracture, Raycroft filled in with mostly good results. He allowed only one goal in a win over the Kings on October 29 before getting tagged for four goals in just two periods of a setback to the Ducks on Friday.
However, he bounced back with 18 saves in Sunday's 3-0 victory over the Avalanche, his seventh career shutout and first since November 9, 2007 while with Toronto.
"We didn't obviously play our best in Anaheim," said Raycroft, who is 4-3-1 with a 3.29 GAA lifetime versus the Rangers. "We were a little banged up and a little tired. We just didn't have a great effort. We wanted to come home and play well."
Tanner Glass, Ryan Kesler and Mason Raymond scored against Colorado for the Canucks, who won for the fifth time in seven games (5-2-0).
Vancouver is 6-2-0 at home and plays its next five on the road following this contest.
Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist has never before beaten the Canucks, but given how he delivered last time out, that inaugural victory might be in the cards tonight.
The 27-year-old is coming off his first shutout of the season, a 1-0 blanking of Boston on Sunday. Lundqvist stopped all 29 shots faced for his 21st career shutout and 150th victory of his career.
"It was a fun game. This is what I was used to last year, low scoring and tight," Lundqvist admitted. "I got a little spoiled this year. We have been scoring a lot. The feeling was one mistake could cost us big time."
The Swedish netminder was helped by the return of Marian Gaborik, who missed the last two games due to a lower-body injury but netted his 11th goal of the season versus the Bruins.
Gaborik is tied for second in the NHL in goals scored and leads the Rangers with 19 points. His tally helped lift New York to just its second win in its last seven games (2-4-1).
The forward wasn't the only skater to return on Sunday, as Sean Avery (knee) and Christopher Higgins (ankle) also found their way back into the lineup after one-game absences.
Lundqvist hopes those reinforcements will be enough to earn him his first victory over the Canucks. He is 0-2-0 with a 5.65 goals-against average in two previous starts against them and allowed five goals on 17 shots in a November 19, 2008 loss to the Canucks that saw him last just 26 minutes.
Vancouver is one of three teams Lundqvist has never beaten. He is 0-2-0 three starts versus Detroit, while also losing his only meeting with St. Louis.
New York, which plays in Edmonton on Thursday and Calgary on Saturday, has lost three straight to the Canucks and eight of the last nine meetings overall. That includes a setback in four straight in Vancouver, where the Rangers haven't won since October 11, 1997.
Game Day Skate Notes:
Vancouver Canucks Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Burrows - H. Sedin - Bernier
Raymond - Kesler - Samuelsson
Glass - Wellwood - Rypien
Hordichuk - Pettinger
Defence:
Mitchell - Bieksa
Salo - Edler
O'Brien - Ehrhoff
Schneider
Goal:
Raycroft
Schneider
Healthy Scratches: Bliznak and Rome
Injured: Luongo, Hansen, D. Sedin, Johnson, Grabner, Bolduc and Demitra
NY Rangers Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Higgins - Prospal - Gaborik
Avery - Dubinksy - Callahan
Byers - Drury - Kotalik
Boyle - Anisimov - Voros
Defence:
Del Zotto - Rozsival
Redden - Gilroy
Stall - Girardi
Goal:
Lundqvist
Valiquette
Healthy scratches: Brashear and Lisin
