You may have heard, but that Ryan Kesler guy is returning to Rogers Arena for the first time tonight since being dealt in the offseason. But beyond that, this is still an important game for the Canucks, as they sit just one point back of Anaheim for 1st in the Pacific, but just five points out of a playoff spot, with perennial powerhouses Chicago and San Jose as the teams in pursuit.

It’s a huge game for a bunch of reasons tonight, so read past the jump for a preview.

Broadcast Info

Puck Drop: 7:00 PM PST

TV: Sportsnet Vancouver Hockey

Radio: TSN 1040

Lineups

LW	C	RW
Daniel Sedin	Henrik Sedin	Radim Vrbata
Chris Higgins	Nick Bonino	Alexandre Burrows
Shawn Matthias	Brad Richardson	Zack Kassian
Derek Dorsett	Linden Vey	Jannik Hansen

Defensive Pairings
Alexander Edler	Chris Tanev
Luca Sbisa	Kevin Bieksa
Dan Hamhuis	Yannick Weber

Linden Vey draws in to the lineup for Bo Horvat. Luca Sbisa returns from injury, replacing the struggling Ryan Stanton. Eddie Lack will make his second start of the season against the Ducks.

LW	C	RW
Emerson Etem	Ryan Getzlaf	Corey Perry
Kyle Palmieri	Ryan Kesler	Matt Beleskey
Jakob Silfverberg	William Karlsson	Andrew Cogliano
Patrick Maroon	Rickard Rakell	Devante Smith-Pelly

Defensive Pairings
Hampus Lindholm	Francois Beauchemin
Cam Fowler	Clayton Stoner
	Sami Vatanen

Corey Perry and Francois Beauchemin will be in the Ducks lineup after recovering from the mumps, unlike the last meeting between these two teams. Former Canuck D Bryan Allen was traded to Montreal this morning for F Rene Bourque. Josh Manson will likely draw in to the lineup. Devante Smith-Pelly returns from a shoulder injury. Frederik Andersen will start in goal.

Preview

Apologies for the truncated pre-game today. We’ll return to our regular pregame format on Sunday.

• The big story today is, of course, the return of Ryan Kesler to Vancouver. There’s not much I can say beyond what Wyatt said this morning, so go read his piece again.
• Perry and Beauchemin returning to the Ducks lineup will give them a boost from the last time these two teams met, which was a pretty impressive performance by a tired road squad.
• Other than that, you can read what we said about the Ducks and Canucks in the lead up to their first game here.
• The other news today in Canuck-land is the acquisition of Will Acton (and Mitch Holmberg) from Edmonton in exchange for Kellan Lain. It’s almost assuredly an AHL deal, but you can read our initial thoughts and reactions here.