As an even-more-menacing opponent arrives at Rogers Arena Saturday night in the form of the St. Louis Blues, the excitement of all that happened Friday night - including Henrik Sedin's great milestone evening - may have obscured some very comforting realities for Vancouver hockey fans.

While showing just how addicted to brilliant goaltending this team has become, the return of Ryan Kesler certainly underlined just how much pure speed and skill this version of the Canucks brings to bear, now that their lineup is rounding into completion.

With one of their fastest forwards in David Booth still to return at some point, the Canucks now boast three lines that can fully be expected to put points on the board.

And, while there is still a lot of work to be done on the specialty teams, when this team is 5-on-5, they are likely to create a lot of headaches for any opponent.

"It's unbelievable, isn't it?" said defenceman Keith Ballard, having overcome Friday night's loss to Dallas, which was brought about by less-than-the-usual-stellar goaltending this team is so accustomed to receiving.

"Think about it. Our so-called third line is going to create so many scoring chances.

"For starters, they're going to get a lot of favourable matchups because Hank's [Sedin] line and Kes's line are going to draw the top two defensive pairings in most cases and that leaves the third line out there with a ton of speed.

"And it's not like it's just three hacks out there who can just skate. They bring a lot of skill with the ability to create a lot of chances. It's really going to back some teams off.

"And it's just simple D to forward stuff with a chip in and puck recovery or a play if there's one to be made.

"Against Dallas, there were a lot of weird things going on out there. We didn't have a great night but I think it's going to be pretty exciting.

"David [Booth] isn't back yet and he's as fast as any of them."

The referenced third line of Jordan Schroeder between Jannik Hansen and Mason Raymond certainly leaves behind last year's theory of going with the plodding Samuel Pahlsson in the middle of a much more deliberate, checking third line.

And while it's entertaining for now and pretty productive, the question remains as to whether speed will be permitted to succeed once the playoffs begin.

It's not hard to imagine whistles being swallowed and the likes of Raymond and Schroeder in particular disappearing from view.

Both Kesler and Henrik Sedin agreed wholeheartedly with Ballard's assessment about terrific team speed and the prospects it brings. Kesler loves the work of Zack Kas-sian on his right side after his first in-game sample, along with Chris Higgins.

We already know Alex Burrows with the Sedins is very effective, so as this team goes forward, there's going to be pressure on that third line to score their share in order to press the benefits of the way this team is constructed.

"That's the way Detroit won it all those years, by having a great third line that could score and put a lot of pressure on the other team," said Henrik Sedin, who was clearly quite taken with, and grateful for, the marvellous reception he got from the fans Friday night.

"I always say that often you see the two top lines in a given matchup cancel each other out and it's up to the third and fourth lines to be the difference.

"With the speed and skill we have down the rest of the lineup, it's got to help us big time."

If the Canucks are going to have a team like this, it's clearly in their best interests to make sure the ice is as good as it can possibly be at Rogers so that the team in control of the puck most of the night can bring their skill to bear.

And if ever there were a classic example of how dreadful ice can end up giving the lesser team a more even playing field, it was Friday night's affair when, at times during the third period, in particular, it appeared they could have used a lacrosse ball instead of a puck and nobody would have noticed.

It was absolutely ridiculous.

"It's like that on a lot of nights in most any building you go into," said Ballard, whose shot that rang off the crossbar Friday night might well have gone in had the puck not been rolling.

" You saw tonight who that favoured. I know we always feel the better the ice, the better it is for us."

tgallagher@ theprovince.com

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