Eurolanche

Canucks Tryamkin to make NHL debut

Season series: The Vancouver Canucks have defeated the Colorado Avalanche twice this season. Bo Horvat and Ben Hutton each had two assists in a 3-1 win at Pepsi Center on Feb. 9. Jannik Hansen had two goals, Henrik Sedin had four assists and Daniel Sedin had three assists in a 5-1 win at Rogers Arena on Feb. 21.

Avalanche team scope: Goalie Semyon Varlamov will make his fourth straight start. He's allowed four goals in his past three games (2-1-0). Defenseman Tyson Barrie missed practice Monday, but practiced Tuesday and will play. "It was just something little that was bothering me, so I thought with the three days between games, I might as well take advantage of it and get rest for the next 12 (games)," Barrie told the Avalanche website. Colorado continues a four-game road trip and will play the Canucks, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers in a five-day span. "It's massive. This is a big three-game road trip for us," Barrie said. "It's imperative that you focus on one game at a time, because if you start worrying about who is after, who's next, if you start writing games off, if you start thinking we are going to beat Vancouver no problem, that's when you get in trouble, so we are totally focused on the Canucks tomorrow."

Canucks team scope: Defenseman Nikita Tryamkin, who signed with Vancouver last week, will make his NHL debut. Tryamkin, 21, had four goals and 11 points in 53 games with Yekaterinburg of the Kontinental Hockey League this season. He stands 6-foot-8 and weighs 220 pounds. "I'm hoping that right now he can fit in and play. If he can do that, he'll grow and get better," coach Willie Desjardins told the Canucks website. Goalie Ryan Miller will start. Forward Alexandre Burrows, who missed a 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Monday after blocking a shot, likely will play. "That's the plan. Hopefully [my foot] reacts well later on today and gets better in the morning and if it's good to go tomorrow, I will probably play tomorrow night," Burrows said. Vancouver recalled center Brendan Gaunce and defenseman Andrey Pedan from Utica of the American Hockey League. Desjardins said defenseman Luca Spisa (upper body) is week-to-week, Hansen (ribs) is likely to return this weekend, defenseman Alex Biega (upper body) will be re-evaluated Wednesday, and defenseman Yannick Weber (upper body) and forwards Derrick Dorsett (upper body) and Markus Granlund (upper body) are day-to-day.

-- By David Satriano for NHL.com --