Detroit Red Wings (34-15-4) at Vancouver Canucks (31-15-4)

Rogers Arena, Thursday, Feb. 2, 7 p.m.

TV: Sportsnet Pacific; Radio: TEAM 1040

VANCOUVER — If this one is even close to the entertainment value of the last time the Canucks met the Red Wings, fans should be in for a treat.

Six weeks ago at Rogers Arena, the Canucks downed Detroit 4-2 in a game that had a little bit of everything: Great goals, big hits and controversial plays.

The Canucks, after jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, sealed it with a shorthanded goal by Alex Edler that had Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard going after Vancouver winger Jannik Hansen, who'd bowled him over while carrying the puck to the net.

The Red Wings lead the Canucks for top spot in the Western Conference standings by three points, but have played one more game.

“We lost the game in about a 40-second span,” said Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock. “We gave up a goal and then a huge goal right away. Against good teams, that's going to kill you. They've got a good team, good depth and they're a fun team to play with. It's going to be hard and it'll be a good battle on the puck.”

Red Wings defenceman Niklas Kronwall caught Canucks centre Ryan Kesler with his head down and rocked him with an unpenalized hit. Kesler challenged Kronwall to a fight, but ended up getting a roughing penalty for his trouble.

Kronwall said he won't know if there's any carryover to Thursday's game until the puck is dropped.

“I guess we'll see tonight, but I haven't really thought too much about it,” he said after the Red Wings skate. “We know it's going to be a physical game when we play Vancouver. A lot of times, it's going to be a playoff game in character, not a lot of room and hard-fought out there. It's almost become a rivalry with these guys.”

Canucks coach Alain Vigneault stressed the importance of getting in front of the Detroit goal and screening Howard.

“Whenever we play here, they've got guys crashing the net and trying to take my sight lines away, but it's on me to try and battle through that,” said Howard, who'll start his sixth straight tonight.

The Red Wings will get their own net crasher, Tomas Holmstrom, back after sitting out their game in Calgary on Tuesday with sore knees. Holmstrom will play on the fourth line with Justin Abdelkader and Cory Emmerton.

Ex-Canucks winger Todd Bertuzzi turned 37 today and is one goal shy of 300 in his NHL career.

RED WINGS EXPECTED LINEUP

Forwards

Franzen-Datsyuk-Bertuzzi

Filppula-Zetterberg-Hudler

Miller-Helm-Cleary

Emmerton-Abdelkader-Holmstrom

Defence

Lidstrom-White

Kronwall-Stuart

Ericsson-Kindl

Goal

Howard