The Vancouver Canucks still have Roberto Luongo on the roster despite trying to trade him at the deadline and it is likely that after being unable to move him that Cory Schneider will be in net on Thursday night at Rogers Arena in Canada.
The team was able to pull off some moves though, as the team acquired Derek Roy before the deadline and he could possibly play on Thursday night. The Canucks are trying to snap out of a bad streak and are looking to avoid a third straight loss. The Oilers are on the other end of the spectrum after winning five games in a row and both will be looking to push forward as the playoffs get closer.
Luongo was frustrated after the deadline passed and no deal was done, as he was hoping to head to a new situation with the Toronto Maple Leafs or possibly another team. Luongo originally signed a 12-year contract worth $64 million and there are still a number of years on the contract before the team can do anything. The new collective bargaining agreement makes teams have to pay even after they trade a player with a contract like Luongo's, meaning he could be around for a while. The biggest issue for Luongo is that the Canucks have decided to move on with Schneider.
"My contract sucks," said Luongo, who is 7-4-3 with a 2.44 goals-against average and has only made one relief appearance over the last eight games. "That's what the problem is, and unfortunately it's a big factor in trading me and it's probably why I am still here. ... I'd scrap it if I could right now."
The Canucks are tied for first place in the Northwest with the Wild and are trying to make a hard push to win the division for the playoffs. Roy has had a solid season with the Stars while scoring 18 assists in 30 games and he will try to keep things up now that he is in Vancouver. The Canucks have lost two games to the Oilers over the past three and the last one was a 4-0 shutout on the road last Saturday.
Edmonton has been scoring in droves recently, keeping their five opponents to just seven goals in the past five games while scoring 25. The Oilers are 16-13-7 this season with 39 points and are ranked 15th in scoring with 2.7 goals per game while allowing 2.6 per game. The team is ranked third in power play percentage and seventh in penalty kill percentage at 84.5 percent.
The Canucks are 19-11-6 with 44 points and are 21st in the league in scoring with 2.5 goals per game. The team is ranked eighth in goals against and are 29th in power play percentage and 16th on the penalty kill with 81.1 percent. Henrik Sedin is leading the team in scoring, while his brother is tops in goals.
