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Canucks-Ducks Preview

Oct 30, 2009 - 6:54 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Vancouver (7-6-0) at Anaheim (3-6-1), 10:00 p.m. EDT

The Vancouver Canucks signed goaltender Andrew Raycroft in July as the latest insurance policy behind Roberto Luongo, who was coming off an injury-shortened season.

A broken rib for Luongo has thrust Raycroft into the starting role, and he's capitalizing on the chance.

The 2004 Calder Trophy winner should get a second consecutive start Friday night when the Canucks visit the struggling Anaheim Ducks.

Vancouver (7-6-0) has relied heavily on Luongo over the past three seasons, but a groin injury limited him to 54 games in 2008-09. The Canucks went 12-14-3 without their captain and four-time All-Star, using Curtis Sanford, Jason LaBarbera and Cory Schneider in his place.

With Sanford and LaBarbera moving on and Schneider not yet ready, Vancouver signed Raycroft to a one-year contract after he went 12-16-0 with a 3.14 goals-against average in 31 games with Colorado last season.

The move may prove to be key after Luongo suffered a hairline fracture during Saturday's 3-1 win over Toronto. He played through the injury for two more games, but re-aggravated it Tuesday while facing 42 shots and giving up five third-period goals in a 5-4 loss to Detroit.

Luongo was ruled out for at least two games, making Raycroft the temporary starter after he allowed one goal in 52 minutes over two games in relief.

Raycroft was impressive Thursday, making 30 saves and two more in the shootout of a 2-1 win at Los Angeles.

"I knew what I signed up for, and I knew what I was getting into," said Raycroft, now with his fourth team in nine seasons. "But if you work hard every day and try to stop every puck in practice, the game seems at a slower pace, just because guys don't have as much time and room and space."

Raycroft is 2-0-0 with a 3.62 GAA in four games - two starts - against the Ducks. However, he hasn't started against them since making 26 saves in a 4-3 overtime win while with Boston on Oct. 19, 2003.

The Canucks went 2-0-2 against Anaheim last season, going 1-0-1 as the visitor.

The Ducks are off to a surprisingly poor start, occupying the bottom of the Pacific Division and second to last in the Western Conference. This is after they reached the playoffs as the eighth seed last season, upsetting San Jose in the opening round before falling to Detroit in six games during the semifinals.

Anaheim has dropped four in a row after opening this six-game homestand with a 3-2 win over Minnesota on Oct. 14. The club is 1-5-0 at Honda Center, and has been outscored 21-9 during the losing streak.

The slide continued Monday as the Ducks logged a season-high 45 penalty minutes and gave up five power-play goals - two in the third period - of a 6-3 loss to the then-winless Maple Leafs.

"We didn't stick with what we've been talking about, there's no doubt about it," defenseman Scott Niedermayer said. "If we were focused on our game and what we were trying to do to win the game, we wouldn't have taken all those penalties."

Anaheim could use some increased scoring from Teemu Selanne, who is tied with fellow right ring Corey Perry for the team lead with five goals. Selanne, however, has managed just one goal in the last six games after netting four in the previous two.

A matchup against the Canucks could help the future Hall of Famer, as he's totaled 10 goals and nine assists in his last 11 meetings with them.