Kick ’em when they’re down: Canucks & Blues

> We feel your pain: The Blues were on top of the world not too long ago, but have suffered some key injuries to T.J. Oshie and David Perron which has robbed them of production up front. Their defense has looked questionable and Jaroslav Halak has shown he’s mortal. This should all sound familiar to the Canucks who have dealt with injury problems, a leaky D, some suspect goaltending and some four game losing streaks of their own. Now, however, the Canucks are firing on all cylinders and get the Blues at home after a loss in Edmonton last night. No excuses.

> Crease wars: The saying goes that good goaltending can mask weaknesses and that’s St. Louis right now. The Blues need Halak to re-establish themselves. Vancouver needs to do exactly what they’ve done to Turco, Kiprusoff and Niemi this week: get in his face and make life hell. Christian Ehrhoff’s powerplay tally against the Hawks was a gift from Ryan Kesler who did his job with Turco. Rinse, wash, repeat.

> …and now you know: Vancouver is currently the only NW team in the top eight in the west. Chances are you’re cool with that.