Let’s Play A Little Game: Canucks & Ducks

> Can Orca’s limp?: The good news later yesterday is master and commander Gillis sidestepped the media and tweeted that Ballard should only miss a month. Amazing considering how the fall looked on replay, but that sets up a scenario where Salo returns later this week, Ballard in March and ideally Edler for the playoff push. In the meantime, Alberts is fine after taking a puck in the throat last night and Chris Tanev returns to the fold to replace Ballard for now. It’s been an embarrassment of richs and sheer luck the Canucks D has held of this long.

> Lupel’s gone; everyone look sad: First the news was that Hiller (25-16, 2.56 GAA) went on the IR and – with Ray Emery in Syracuse – the Canucks snipers get to feast on Curtis McElhinney. Then news filtered out that George Voros hit waivers as a precursor to clear the decks for the bigger news: Anaheim reacquiring Francois Beauchemin for Joffrey Lupul, Jake Gardiner and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2013. The cap hits are similar (though Lupel is signed longer) and Beauchemin will fill out the lower pairings rather than the higher seeding he had in Toronto where he struggled. Anaheim sits seventh in the West and is clearly looking to make the cut.

They also welcome captain Ryan Getzlaf back tonight who has five points against the Canucks this season. Both meetings this year have been shootout wins, one per squad.

> Impress Your Friends With Knowledge!: As long as we’re at it, Getzlaf has played at a point-per-game pace against Vancouver for his career: in 21 games he has 8 goals and 13 assists.