The Canucks welcome the return of Ryan Kesler and the Anaheim Ducks when the two teams clash in Vancouver this evening.

Listeners in the Canucks region can listen to the game live on TSN Radio 1040 with coverage beginning at 5pm pt.

Kesler, traded in June for Luca Sbisa and Nick Bonino, will be returning for the second time to Vancouver, where he spent the first 10 seasons of his career. He scored against Calgary to end a season-worst six-game point drought.

His former teammates have had some offensive issues. The Canucks had a three-game winning streak snapped with a 4-1 loss at Tampa Bay last Tuesday - the fourth time in seven games they've scored one goal or none.

The power play let the Canucks down with an 0-for-7 night, falling to 2 for 25 in the last eight games. The penalty kill has made up for it with a 30-for-32 mark over nine games, but Henrik Sedin was focused on the limited offense.

"We had enough chances on the power play to win on the power play," Sedin said. "So that lost us the game."

Ryan Miller allowed three goals on 25 shots, but he has a 1.01 GAA over a 3-1-0 stretch.

In addition to the game, the Canucks lost Kevin Bieksa to a broken hand against the Lightning, and the defenseman will be out indefinitely.

Forward Brad Richardson has missed two games with a foot injury and is listed as day-to-day.

The Ducks visit the Canucks looking to extend their overall winning streak to six and make it 10 straight games at Rogers Arena without a regulation loss.

The Ducks (31-10-6) have won five straight in Vancouver and haven't lost there in regulation since March 24, 2010 - a 7-0-2 stretch with an average of 4.11 goals per game. They're 2-0-1 in the season series to extend their overall dominance against the Canucks (26-16-3) to an 8-0-1 run with just 1.33 goals per game allowed.

Corey Perry has only appeared in one of the meetings this season, though he has 11 points on a six-game streak against Vancouver - all Anaheim wins. The Ducks are 9-0-3 against the Canucks when Perry scores a goal.

The forward has also had a strong impact on the team's current run with four goals, three assists and a plus-7 rating on a four-game point streak.

He had two assists in Wednesday's 6-3 home win over Calgary, one of which set up Ryan Getzlaf. Getzlaf, Anaheim's lone All-Star, has scored in consecutive games and has five points on a four-game streak along with a plus-8 rating.

Coach Bruce Boudreau might not have minded most of his team having the break entirely off, given the coming schedule.

"When we do come back, we have 29 games in 54 days," Boudreau said after the Calgary win. "I want them to relax and get away from the game. But when they come back, I want them to have the same attitude that they've had for the last couple of weeks. Hopefully we'll be able to take off from where we left off."

The break might have been especially good for goaltender Frederik Andersen, who had been battling the flu. He made 30 saves against the Flames and has won six straight to begin the new year. His career-best seven-game winning streak came last month, and he's 16-2-1 with a 2.24 goals-against average since the start of December.

That includes a win over Vancouver to improve to 5-0-1 with a 1.29 GAA in the series. He's allowed more than a goal to the Canucks just once.

Game Notes:
All 3 games between teams this season decided past regulation, ANA 2 wins
ANA has won 5 straight in VAN

VAN (26-16-3):
lost 2 straight at home, 1GF, 0/6 on PP
Burrows (1G, 2A) past 4 games, he has 1G, 1A vs ANA this season

ANA (31-10-6):
won 5 straightm, outscoring opponent 21-10, 5/14 on PP
Perry (4G, 3A) 4 game PT streak