CANUCKS (26-13-3) at PANTHERS (20-13-8)
Last 10: Vancouver 7-2-1; Florida 4-4-2.
Big Story: Canucks' goalie Roberto Luongo sat out Saturday's game against the Boston Bruins, but the veteran netminder is poised to play in front of his former home crowd Monday. Luongo spent five seasons with the Panthers and remains the franchise leader in career wins (108) and shutouts (26).
Injury Report: Canucks coach Alain Vigneault confirmed Sunday that defenseman Sami Salo will sit with an apparent concussion after he took a low hit from Boston's Brad Marchand on Saturday. Marchand has a disciplinary hearing Monday for the clipping penalty. The Canucks recalled forward Mike Duco from the AHL's Chicago Wolves on Sunday. Forward Andrew Ebbett broke his collarbone following a Dennis Seidenberg hit on Saturday and is out indefinitely. Forward David Booth (knee) has been medically cleared to return to game action, while defenseman Aaron Rome (hand) remains on injured reserve for Vancouver. ... Goalie Jose Theodore (knee) is expected to be sidelined the next few weeks for Florida. The Panthers also have four other players on IR: Scottie Upshall (upper body), Jack Skille (shoulder), Sean Bergenheim (lower body) and Marco Sturm (head).
Compared to the last game in Boston this game is shaping up to be something of a yawner. The "big story" being Luongo back in Florida to play in front of his in-laws. My only concern with this game is Jose Theodore. He's a goaltender with a history of being absolutely incredible or absolutely abysmal. These goalies always get me worried because it's like they save their best performance of the season for the Canucks who, as it always seems to happen, approach games against these kind of teams with a serious lack of enthusiasm and pretend like it's the all-star game. The result is usually alot of bad passes, poor shot selection, and many easy saves or missed nets.
Here's hoping they carry the energy and excitement from Saturday forward and let that win over the Bruin's fuel a 40-game locamotive.
GDT: Canucks @ Panthers - 16:30 PST (SNET-P)
Moderator: Referees