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The Vancouver Canucks opted to hold on to centre Ryan Kesler for a possible run at the playoffs and the struggling club tries to avoid a fourth straight setback on Thursday night when it visits the Dallas Stars. The Canucks figured to be active prior to Wednesdays trade deadline, getting a jump on things the previous day when they dealt goaltender Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers for netminder Jacob Markstrom and forward Shawn Matthias. Keslers name was heavy in the rumor cycle going into the deadline, but no deal was done and the 29-year-old can now focus on trying to get the Canucks back into a playoff spot. They are currently two points behind the Stars for the second wild card position in the Western Conference thanks to losses in 10 of their past 11 games. Kesler leads the Canucks with 21 goals and is third on the club with 39 points, one back of both Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Daniel Sedin, though, is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury, further hindering an offense that has scored just eight goals in the previous eight games. Vancouver failed to light the lamp on Tuesday versus the Phoenix Coyotes, falling 1-0. Eddie Lack, the Canucks clear No. 1 goaltender with Luongo dealt, stopped 31 shots and gets the start again tonight. "We just couldnt get that last push and its just been that way for the last month or so," said Lack. "These games are important and we need to start putting together some wins real quick." The 26-year-old rookie is 9-10-4 in 26 games this season, but with a solid 2.05 goals against average and .926 save percentage along with three shutouts. Lack has never started versus the Stars, but did face them in relief on Dec. 19 and stopped all seven shots faced in 17 1/2 minutes of action. The Stars have won both of their meetings with the Canucks this season, taking three in a row and six of the last nine encounters overall. Dallas, just one point ahead of both Phoenix and the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card berth, failed to earn a point for just the second time in its last nine games (5-2-2) when it lost a 4-2 decision to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. Coming off a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres the previous night, the Stars got goals from Alex Goligoski and Trevor Daley as well as 16 saves by backup netminder Dan Ellis. Ellis was making his first appearance since Feb. 1 and it turned out to be his last with the Stars as he was dealt to Florida for goaltender Tim Thomas, who became expendable when the Panthers acquired Luongo. Thomas will help lessen the load for Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen and provide veteran insurance in the crease after going 16-20-3 with a 2.87 GAA in 40 games for the Panthers. "Weve liked how hes played. Hes played very well. Hes experienced," Dallas general manager Jim Nill told his teams website of Thomas. "I think it is going to be good for Kari Lehtonen to see a guy, how he prepares, how he handles pressure. Kari is kind of growing into this role. Its Karis team still, but when we have back-to-back games or four games in six nights, he knows there is somebody that can go into the net and the team is going to continue to win. Thats very important." Lehtonen figures to get the start tonight and is 5-7-0 with a 2.92 GAA lifetime versus the Canucks. Whitey Herzog Jersey . -- Michael Frazier II scored 21 points, Dorian Finney-Smith added 11 and No. Lance Lynn Jersey .com) - The surging Montreal Canadiens will try to match their longest winning streak of the season when they visit the Florida Panthers for Saturdays clash at BB&T Center. http://www.cardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Orlando-Cepeda-Kids-Jersey/ . The Flames are in the midst of a six-game slide (0-5-1), their longest losing streak since an 0-6-3 skid from Jan. 11-28, 2010. They havent won since Nov. 3 in Chicago and most recently went winless on a three-game homestand. Custom St. Louis Cardinals Jerseys . Toronto has lost six of its last eight games but is coming off Thursdays 7-3 victory at Kansas City. Juan Francisco and Colby Rasmus both went deep for the Blue Jays, who are second in the American League with 34 home runs on the season. Jason Motte Jersey . Both had to wait out a rain interruption lasting nearly five hours before taking comprehensive third-round victories to join Carling Bassett-Seguso (1983, 1986), Patricia Hy-Boulais (1996-97) and Daniel Nestor (1999) as Canadians who made it into the second week of a major.2011 was a great year for the BC Lions. They kicked off the still-going trend of host cities winning the Grey Cup and sent Hall of Fame head coach Wally Buono to the front office a champion. That was two years ago however, and things have been getting increasingly worrisome on the West Coast ever since. First, the Lions failed to deliver on their strong 2012 regular season when they were upset in the Western Final by the Calgary Stampeders. But that was nothing compared to this year. BC clearly fell behind the Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders in the regular season before exiting the playoffs in the Western Semi-Final, their earliest exit since 2010. The Lions do have excuses for their down year, with star quarterback and former Most Outstanding Player Travis Lulay missing the final seven games of the regular season save for a short, four-pass cameo in the finale due to a shoulder injury. LLulay also underwent off-season shoulder surgery early this off-season, suggesting the 30-year-old wasnt 100 percent during his start in BCs Western Semi-Final loss to the eventual Grey Cup champion Roughriders.dddddddddddd That said, the Lions were still in third place in the West, two games behind both Calgary and Saskatchewan, at the time of Lulays shoulder injury. Both the Stamps and Riders appear to have the foundation in place to once again field West division contenders next season; can BC keep up? The Lions made their first off-season move on Wednesday, parting ways with offensive coordinator Jacques Chapdelaine. The list of candidates rumoured to be in the running to replace Chapdelaine is fairly impressive; will that move alone be enough to kick start BCs fortunes for next year? The Rouge asks: Do the Lions need a shakeup this off-season to keep pace in the West Division? ' ' '