• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Canucks look to end skid against West-leading Sharks

Jan 20, 2009 - 1:44 PM Vancouver (22-19-6) at San Jose (33-6-5), 10:30 p.m. EST

SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- The arrival of Mats Sundin and return of goaltender Roberto Luongo has done little to spark the Vancouver Canucks.

On Tuesday, the Canucks hope both players can help them snap a miserable skid when they visit the San Jose Sharks.

Vancouver lost, 6-5, in a shootout against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday and broke a franchise record with its seventh straight home defeat.

The previous mark was set December 18, 1970-January 20, 1971 during the team's inaugural season, and equaled in a stretch from November 3-18, 1978.

The Canucks also fell for the fifth straight contest overall for the first time since an 0-4-1 slide from March 5-14, 2006. They are 1-4-1 since Sundin joined the team.

Meanwhile, Luongo, a four-time All-Star, had been sidelined with a strained groin for more than seven weeks - a span in which the Canucks went 9-12-3 and slipped from first in the Northwest Division.

Luongo showed his rust during a 4-1 setback to the Phoenix Coyotes in his first game back on Thursday and fizzled once again against the Blue Jackets despite stopping 23 shots.

The Sharks, who enter with a 21-1-2 record at home, are coming off a 6-5 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.

They too have called upon a veteran to help as Claude Lemieux was recalled from Worcester of the American Hockey League on Monday.

The 43-year-old Lemieux, who won four Stanley Cup titles during 21 NHL seasons with five clubs while earning a reputation as one of hockey's top agitators, signed with the Sharks on December 29.

Though San Jose is just 3-2-1 against the Northwest Division this season, two of those victories have come against Vancouver.