Scenes from morning skate: Höglander debuts, Lankinen starts for Canucks vs.Red Wings

After a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on saturday, the Canucks will be looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since mid-October.

What we saw

As the Canucks play their 30th game of the season, Nils Höglander will play his first after recovering from preseason ankle surgery. Höglander will start the night on the fourth line with Drew O’Connor at center and Arshdeep Bains on the opposite wing.

O’Connor is being asked to play center for a second straight game because Elias Pettersson remains out of the lineup with an undisclosed upper-body injury. The Canucks say Pettersson is still undergoing medical evaluation and hope to have a better sense of the extent of the injury later in the day.Adam Foote also revealed that Teddy Blueger will remain out until after Christmas. He has not played as October 17th.

With no Pettersson up front, Kiefer Sherwood and Aatu Räty took turns in the bumper on the team’s first power play unit. Sherwood leads the club with 12 goals, but Räty would play faceoff man for the top unit.

Kevin Lankinen gets the start in goal tonight. He is 0-4-1 in his last five starts, including a 4-1 loss to the Utah Mammoth on Friday night.Nikita Tolopilo will back him up. Thatcher Demko, who is celebrating his 30th birthday today, was also on the ice for the team’s morning skate.

Lukas Reichel and P-O Joseph are expected to be the healthy scratches tonight.

The Canucks are coming off a 4-2 win over Minnesota on Saturday. Aatu Räty had a pair of goals as part of his first career three-point night. The 23-year-old has had a hand in five of the last six goals the Canucks have scored. Tom Willander scored his first NHL goal and also had an assist against the wild.

The Canucks are wearing their alternate black jersey tonight and again on Thursday against Buffalo to conclude this four-game homestand.

Former Canuck Kevin Bieksa was on hand at the morning skate and shared a rapid moment with Adam Foote.