VANCOUVER -- Vancouver Canucks forward Sven Baertschi said he would have been excited about his Stanley Cup Playoff debut regardless of the situation, but making it against the Calgary Flames adds a layer of motivation.

Baertschi will make his playoff debut on second line with the Canucks facing elimination in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round on Thursday (10 p.m ET; CNBC, CBC, TVA Sports). If that's not enough motivation, Baertschi's debut comes against the team that drafted him 13th in the 2011 NHL Draft before trading him to the Canucks on March 2 for a second-round pick this summer.

Baertschi requested a trade, but was downplaying it Thursday.

"It's in the past. Today I am wearing a blue jersey, and that's all that matters to me," Baertschi said. "It's something special for any young player and I guess playing against your old team is something even more special. There's no lack of motivation for sure."

Baertschi played 66 games over parts of four seasons in Calgary and had eight goals and 20 assists before being trade to Vancouver. He played three games with the Canucks and scored his only two goals in the regular-season finale on April 11, but started the playoffs in the American Hockey League before being called up Tuesday because of injuries to forwards Brad Richardson and Alexandre Burrows.

Baertschi was a surprise scratch Tuesday in favor of seldom-used forward Brandon McMillan and rookie Linden Vey, but coach Willie Desjardins said he is hoping Baertschi can add an offensive spark for a team that has scored four goals in its three losses against the Flames in the best-of-7 series.

"I think he can. He's a real skilled player. He's got good offense," Desjardins said. "Whenever you are playing a former team it's going to motivate you. He has a lot he wants to prove. He knows the guys in the other room and he just wants to show that they maybe give up on him a little soon. I'm sure that's what he's feeling."

Here are the projected lineups:

FLAMES

Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Jiri Hudler

Sam Bennett – Mikael Backlund – Joe Colborne

Micheal Ferland – Matt Stajan – David Jones

Brandon Bollig – Josh Jooris – Mason Raymond

Kris Russell - Dennis Wideman

TJ Brodie - Deryk Engelland

Tyler Wotherspoon - David Schlemko

Jonas Hiller

Karri Ramo

Scratched: Markus Granlund, Corey Potter, Drew Shore

Injured: Ladislav Smid (upper body), Paul Byron (lower body), Mark Giordano (torn biceps tendon), Raphael Diaz (lower body), (lower body), Lance Bouma (upper body)

CANUCKS

Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Jannik Hansen

Sven Baertschi - Nick Bonino - Radim Vrbata

Ronalds Kenins - Bo Horvat - Derek Dorsett

Chris Higgins - Brad Richardson - Shawn Matthias 

Alexander Edler – Christopher Tanev

Dan Hamhuis - Yannick Weber

Luca Sbisa - Kevin Bieksa

Ryan Miller

Eddie Lack

Scratched: Linden Vey, Ryan Stanton, Brandon McMillan

Injured: Alexandre Burrows (undisclosed), Zack Kassian (back)

Status Report: Vey, who played 75 games in the regular season, has only played one in the playoffs. … Despite Burrows still being in Calgary, Desjardins offered no further update after assuring the media Wednesday the injury was “not serious.”

Who's hot: Miller made 15 saves on 15 shots in the final two periods in Game 4 in relief of Lack.