The Canucks will try to stay on a roll, but their young defense is expecting a different challenge from the Ducks' big forwards. Vancouver defeated the Minnesota Wild 5-4 on Tuesday despite missing top defenseman Alexander Edler, who broke his finger Saturday, and his regular partner, Chris Tanev, who remains out because of an ankle injury. It was the first time the Canucks have won consecutive games since opening the season with four straight victories, but the hard-forechecking Ducks might be harder on what is now the youngest defense in the NHL. "If I am stationary, they are obviously going to take advantage of my size," said 5-foot-10 rookie Troy Stecher, who had two assists against the Wild. "Use my feet, make sure I am skating. If I am doing that, it makes it harder to hit me." After struggling to score during a nine-game losing streak (0-8-1) through Nov. 7, the Canucks have 31 goals in going 6-3-1 in the past 10 games. Second-line center Bo Horvat leads the Canucks with eight goals and 16 points and credits chemistry with linemates Alexandre Burrows, who has five points the past five games, and Sven Baertschi, who returned after missing two games to score the winning goal against the Wild. "Just knowing where each other is, knowing what we have to do each and every game to be successful," Horvat said.
