Preview: Canucks at Hurricanes

CANUCKS (12-15-2) at HURRICANES (11-11-6)
7 p.m. ET; SNP, FS-CR, NHL.TV

Canucks team scope

Ryan Miller will start in goal for the Vancouver Canucks after missing two games with an injured ankle. Miller left Vancouver's 5-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday in the third period and didn't play in road losses to the Florida Panthers and Washington Capitals. Forward Sven Baertschi returns after he was a healthy scratch in a 3-0 loss at Washington on Sunday. "I think the message was for the team more than for Baertschi," coach Willie Desjardins said. "As a team you can't take it for granted every night. You have to perform. I think he was low in a number of categories, but he's been good for us. I've got no problems with Sven Baertschi. He's a good player, he's got good skills." Baertschi takes the place of Brendan Gaunce, who has three assists in 29 games. "I think we all have to be better," Baertschi said. "We can't be satisfied with playing well and still losing. It doesn't work that way." Vancouver has won seven straight against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Hurricanes team scope

Forwards Jordan Staal (concussion) and Elias Lindholm (lower body) will return after missing seven and five games, respectively. "It's an opportunity to have some matchups in our favor," coach Bill Peters said. "We got crushed a little bit on faceoffs. We take a lot of pride in faceoffs. In the absence of both Lindholm and Staal, who take a lot of important draws for us, we've slipped. We've got to get that back and we've got to have the puck more." The Hurricanes play five of their next six games at home after starting the season with 17 of 27 on the road. Carolina has won six straight at PNC Arena. "There's some comfort at home," forward Lee Stempniak said. "A lot of it is coaching. They sort of dictate the matchups through the course of the game. It's something our coaches take a lot of pride in and have their hand on. That contributes to our success at home."

Canucks projected lineup

Daniel Sedin -- Henrik Sedin -- Jannik Hansen
Loui Eriksson -- Brandon Sutter - Markus Granlund
Sven Baertschi - Bo Horvat - Alexandre Burrows
Jayson Megna - Michael Chaput - Jack Skille
Ben Hutton -- Erik Gudbranson
Luca Sbisa -- Troy Stecher
Nikita Tryamkin - Alex Biega
Ryan Miller
Jacob Markstrom
Scratched: Brendan Gaunce, Jack Skille, Thatcher Demko
Injured: Chris Tanev (ankle), Derek Dorsett (neck surgery), Alexander Edler (hand), Philip Larsen (upper body)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Joakim Nordstrom - Jordan Staal - Elias Lindholm
Jeff Skinner - Victor Rask - Derek Ryan
Sebastian Aho - Teuvo Teravainen - Lee Stempniak
Brock McGinn - Jay McClement - Viktor Stalberg
Jaccob Slavin - Brett Pesce
Ron Hainsey - Justin Faulk
Noah Hanifin - Matt Tennyson
Cam Ward
Michael Leighton
Scratched:Andrej Nestrasil, Ryan Murphy
Injured: Eddie Lack (concussion), Bryan Bickell (illness)

Status Report

Demko remains with the Canucks as the third goaltender. … Carolina returned forward Phillip Di Giuseppe to Charlotte of the American Hockey League on Monday.

Who's hot

Skille has three goals in the past three games. Daniel Sedin has three goals and two assists in the past five games. ... Ryan has three goals in his past two games. Slavin has assists in three straight games. Carolina's penalty kill (92.1%) leads the NHL.