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Shorthanded Canucks look for third straight win

Nov 20, 2007 - 2:17 PM Vancouver (10-8-1) at Edmonton (7-12-1) 9:00 pm EST

EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- The Vancouver Canucks were starting to get rolling, but they will now face another obstacle.

The Canucks will be without defenseman Mattias Ohlund when they visit the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night in a battle of Northwest Division foes.

Ohlund, who has three goals and three assists this season, was suspended four games after for his stick-swinging hit on Mikko Koivu in Friday's 6-2 triumph. After Koivu was whisted for an elbowing penalty, Ohlund reacted by unleashing a slash to Koivu's left leg, cracking the bone.

Vancouver already has been without blue-liners Kevin Bieksa and Sami Salo. Bieska will likely miss nearly two more months with a lacerated calf, while Salo is out indefinately with a broken nose.

Despite the injuries, the Canucks have won five of their previous six contests. The only loss over that stretch came to the Oilers in a shootout.

Edmonton netminder Mathieu Garon made 29 saves and stopped all three shooters in the bonus format to lead his club to a 1-0 victory over Vancouver on Wednesday.

Garon's performance overshadowed Roberto Luongo's first shutout of the season as he has been the main reason for the Canucks' recent success. The 28-year-old Luongo has yielded just six goals over his last five games.

Luongo will have to contain Shawn Horcoff, who has enjoyed an excellent start to the campaign. Horcoff leads the Oilers with seven goals and 16 points.