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Kings-Canucks Preview

Nov 26, 2009 - 6:57 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Los Angeles (13-9-2) at Vancouver (12-11-0), 10:00 p.m. EDT

Even with Daniel Sedin back on the ice, the Vancouver Canucks are still looking for some offensive consistency.

After being shut out for the second time this season, the Canucks look to bounce back with a fourth consecutive victory over the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.

Despite scoring 13 goals in winning its previous two games and having their star forward back from injury, Vancouver (12-11-0) lost 1-0 to surging Chicago on Sunday. It was the fourth loss in six games for the Canucks, who totaled three goals in those defeats.

"It's not easy to score in this league but there's been games this year where we've been lucky, where we've got a few bounces," Henrik Sedin told the Canucks' official Web site. "It takes a lot of hard work to get there. The key is to look at our game and go from there."

The loss aside, Vancouver should move on with confidence now that Daniel Sedin is back in the lineup after missing 18 games with a broken left foot. The Canucks' leading scorer with 31 goals in 2008-09, Sedin has yet to find the back of the net, but has four assists in five games this season.

"I felt fine," Sedin said of his return against Chicago. "I mean, I didn't have the hands I wanted, but that'll come. The timing, it's going to take a few games probably. For a first game (back), I felt pretty good."

Sedin could get back to form Thursday against Los Angeles (14-9-2), which has lost its last two games at GM Place. He has a goal and three assists in his last four against the Kings. Sedin was not on the ice for Vancouver's 2-1 shootout win at Los Angeles on Oct. 29.

Mikael Samuelsson scored in that contest and had a goal with three assists in his previous two games before Sunday's loss.

Vancouver's Roberto Luongo didn't face the Kings earlier this season, but is 8-6-1 with a 2.21 goals-against average against them lifetime. He made 16 saves against Chicago and fell to 8-8-0 with a 2.54 GAA this season.

Los Angeles avoided a third straight loss with a 3-1 victory at Edmonton on Wednesday. Wayne Simmonds had a goal with an assist for his first points in six games for the Kings, winners of three straight on the road.

"We had two games at home that we lost where we didn't work as hard as we should have, so that was our goal (Wednesday), to come in and play a solid 60 minutes," Simmonds said. "I think we did that and it was a big character win for us."

Alexander Frolov added an empty-netter for his second goal in as many contests. He has eight with six assists in 24 games versus Vancouver.

Jon Quick made 22 saves Wednesday and could be back in net for Los Angeles in this back-to-back scenario. Quick is 13-8-2 with a 2.72 GAA this season. He's 1-2-1 with a 1.98 all-time versus the Canucks and made 14 saves against them in October.

Backup Erik Ersberg is 1-1-0 with a 4.18 GAA, but hasn't started since Nov. 11 at Carolina.