Henrik Sedin, Alex Burrows latest Canucks on the shelf

Catch up hockey is losing hockey, never has a more true axiom ever been spoken - and for the Vancouver Canucks, they'll have to try to catch up to the Western Conference's final playoff spot without two key contributors.

In fact, Henrik Sedin and Alex Burrows represents two-thirds of the Canucks' top line - rather, they did before Sedin left Sunday night's win over the Buffalo Sabres with a leg injury, preceded by Burrows, who took a nasty slash to his left hand courtesy of Nashville Predators' defenseman Shea Weber last Wednesday.

Just when the Canucks thought they would finally be healthy to make a perhaps ill-fated run at a playoff spot, their 76 points just three shy of the current eighth seeded Phoenix Coyotes - though the Desert Dogs have a game in hand and the Dallas Stars, who are also chasing the Coyotes and are one point up on the Canucks, have two games in hand.

Henrik and Daniel Sedin celebrate a goal with Alex Burrows (r)

Vancouver has a couple of things in their favor, however.

First, their schedule is a mixture of elite, playoff bound teams and doormats - and while they still have Cup hopefuls Anaheim and Colorado on their itinerary twice and the Los Angeles Kings once - four of the five games are on the Canucks' home ice, leaving games with Minnesota, the Avalanche and Edmonton on the road.

Secondly the Canucks have Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler back from injury - Daniel set to take his twin brother's spot on the top line and Kesler returning to his normal spot centering the second line.

Henrik's leg injury looked to be not much of anything initially as he got tangled up with Buffalo's Tyler Ennis between the red line and the end boards, then was shaking his leg as if there was a pebble in his skate as he glided off on one blade, but seemed to nearly collapse when he reached the bench with just over five minutes left in the second period.

He didn't return from the room for the final frame and now joins Burrows in the press box on a day-to-day basis - though Burrows ought to consider just staying in the press box for the final nine games for the sake of his own health.

Previous to this latest injury, Burrows has missed a total of 32 games with a broken foot, broken jaw and a sprained hand in this most forgettable of seasons for the veteran right winger.