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Canucks set to prep for playoffs against Flames

Apr 9, 2011 - 3:29 PM (Sports Network) - The Vancouver Canucks have just one game left before they begin their quest for a first ever Stanley Cup championship. Roberto Luongo and Ryan Kesler certainly looked to be in playoff form last time out.

The Canucks close out what has been their best regular-season performance in club history this evening against the disappointed Calgary Flames at the Saddledome.

Vancouver has set club single-season records with 53 wins and 115 points this year, leading to the franchise's first ever Presidents' Trophy. That means that the road to the Stanley Cup will run through Vancouver for as long as it is in the playoffs.

Along with Hart Trophy candidate Daniel Sedin, who leads the NHL with a career-high 102 points, Kesler and Luongo have also been key to the Canucks' season. Luongo leads the NHL with 38 wins and is among the league leaders with a 2.11 goals-against average and .928 save percentage, while Kesler hit 40 goals for the first time in his career with a hat trick in Thursday's 5-0 win over the Wild.

Kesler recorded his third career three-goal game, while Mason Raymond scored twice. Luongo ended with 29 saves for the fourth shutout of the season and 55th of his career, helping the Canucks rebound from back-to-back setbacks to the basement-dwelling Oilers.

Luongo said after the game that putting up a doughnut wasn't that important.

"I don't like shutouts anyway, they're overrated, I've said all year long," Luongo commented.

While defenseman Alex Edler returned from a 31-game absence following back surgery, forward Raffi Torres served the first contest of his four-game suspension that will carry into the postseason for a hit to the head against Edmonton on Thursday

Blueliner Dan Hamhuis, meanwhile, missed his fifth straight game with a concussion, but has resumed skating and is questionable for tonight. If Hamhuis plays, it will mark the first time this season that the Canucks have had their projected top six defenseman -- Hamhuis, Edler, Kevin Bieksa, Keith Ballard, Christian Ehrhoff and Sami Salo -- in the lineup at the same time.

Vancouver's setback at Edmonton on Thursday snapped a club-record nine-game road winning streak and the Canucks are 26-10-4 as the guest this season.

Though Luongo is coming off a shutout, backup Cory Schneider is expected to get the start for his 25th appearance of the season. That will allow him to join Luongo on the Jennings Trophy should the duo capture the honor. The trophy is awarded to the goaltender or goaltenders on the team that allows the fewest goals in the league.

Vancouver has currently allowed an NHL-low 183 goals this season.

The Flames wrap up their schedule looking for a fourth straight win. Though they picked up a 6-1 victory over the Oilers on Wednesday, the Flames were still eliminated from the postseason race for a second straight season following the Ducks' win over the Sharks on the same day.

"The first part of the season really affected us. That's why game 20 is as important as game 80 or 81," said Calgary head coach Brent Sutter. "From mid- December on, we really dug our heels in and we had a hell of a run here in the last 46 games since December 23rd."

Jarome Iginla posted the 12th hat trick of his career in the win over the Oilers, giving him 42 goals on the season. The winger reached the 40-goal mark for the fourth time in his career and for the first time since netting 50 goals in 2007-08.

Miikka Kiprusoff made 22 saves to earn his 262 career win with the Flames. That ties him with Mike Vernon for most in team history and he should get a chance at breaking that mark tonight.

Calgary, though, has lost four of five to Vancouver this season as well as seven of the past nine meetings overall. The Canucks have won their last three at the Saddledome.