Vancouver Visits Minnesota…Rypien sighting?

Tuesday evening, the Vancouver Canucks will lace them up in Minnesota to face the surging Wild.

Head coach Alain Vigneault would not confirm, but he did hint that sand paper forward Rick Rypien could return to the lineup this week, and maybe even as soon as tonight in the tilt with Minnesota. It is a “day to day” situation. Rypien has been on an unexplained personal leave from the team since December, but joined his mates last week and resumed full workouts. One thing is for sure, he will get a chance to play before the end of the regular season.

Rypien’s return could bolster an already impressive lineup, adding yet another hard working speedster who opponents do not like playing against.

Vancouver remains 1 point behind the Calgary Flames for the Northwest division lead, and a win tonight will leapfrog them over Calgary for the time being. So far on their road trip of 6 games which ends tonight against the Wild, Vancouver has gone 3-2-0. Their most recent outing against the Chicago Blackhawks was a 4-0 win that moved them into a tie with Chicago for 4th spot in the West. The San Jose Sharks did the Canucks a big favour last night winning in Calgary 2-1 keeping the Flames from widening their lead. 

After taking some heat earlier last week, the Sedin twins have caught fire during the road trip, combining for 17 points in 4 games. Not only do the Wild have to worry about containing Henrik, Daniel and whoever is lucky enough to skate alongside them (Alex Burrows?), but they have to figure out a way to solve Captain Roberto Luongo who is coming off a 26 save shutout performance and who has posted a 2-0-1 record against the Wild this season, with a 1.99 GAA.