Photo Credit: Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports

With Alex Burrows now confirmed to be sidelined for the remainder of Vancouver’s first round series against the Calgary Flames, the Canucks will now turn to a Calgary castoff and a playoff rookie to help them turn their fortunes around and do the improbable.

Trade deadline acquisition Sven Baertschi will reportedly suit up on Thursday for game 5 for his NHL playoff debut. Read past the jump for more.

Originally, it looked as if Baertschi would make his playoff debut last night in his old stomping grounds, however a last minute roster decision from Willie Desjardins placed Brandon McMillan in the lineup over the dynamic Swiss forward. It was a questionable decision to say the least, seeing as McMillan’s offensive game is virtually non-existent, and likely comparable to some of the worst players to see regular NHL ice time since the start of the 2007-08 season.

It’s tough to criticize McMillan for last night since I thought he had a relatively nice game. He drew the penalty that led to Vancouver’s one goal thanks to a tenacious offensive zone shift, and although he took a penalty on the play, I was happy to see him look like the only guy who gave a crap that Michael Ferland ran into Ryan Miller on Calgary’s disallowed goal. 

That doesn’t change the fact that the Canucks are in desperate need of scoring. They’ve been held to two or less goals in three of the four games so far, and in a league where it’s so often a race to three goals, scoring that infrequently is leaving yourself too little room for error and putting too much pressure on your goaltender. McMillan may have played a decent game, but he’s still one of the very worst options you could have bet on in game 4. 

If I had to guess, I would speculate that his inclusion in the lineup had more to do with Desjardins feeling that McMillan’s comfort and familiarity with Vancouver’s systems was far greater than that of Baertschi’s, especially since Baertschi just joined the team yesterday morning. Still, the Canucks need scoring right now, so they need Sven Baertschi.

Baertschi hasn’t yet been much of a two-way player at the NHL level, but his offensive skill and creativity is undeniable. He will reportedly suit up on Vancouver’s second line with Radim Vrbata and Nick Bonino, and look to kick-start the Canucks’ depth attack that’s not only been completely MIA this series, but an outright liability as well.

The Vrbata-Bonino duo was dead silent for the first three games of the series, and was getting plastered again last night before the Flames shelled to an extreme degree, making their underlying numbers appear respectable. If Vancouver hopes to mount anything resembling a comeback, they won’t just need Baertschi to play well, but for Bonino and Vrbata to turn their games around too.

The Flames seem to have made the determination that without Mark Giordano they can’t touch the Sedins, so they’ve done the next best thing: clog the middle of the ice and block as many of their attempts as they can. This means that the Sedins will have a reduced chance to generate offence while Calgary has foregone that option entirely, so it’s imperative that the Canucks get production from their depth players to help their top line.

Will Sven Baertschi be the spark the Canucks and their second line need to get back in this series? It’s impossible to say, but it’s not like there are better options available right now either.