"Already missing Chris Higgins, the Vancouver Canucks were almost without their other second-line winger on Saturday.

David Booth played, but he played in considerable pain after a night with very little sleep.

Booth began suffering upper-back and neck spasms Friday and they continued throughout the night.

"I couldn't even lay down because my back was seizing up," Booth said after the Canucks' 3-2 shootout win over the Colorado Avalanche. "I had to sit up for about five hours last night, just straight up against my bed, trying to sleep like that. It wasn't good."

Booth doesn't know what caused the spasms. He was on the receiving end of a hit on the end boards in Thursday night's game against the Detroit Red Wings.

"I don't know what it was a result of, but man it didn't feel good," he said.

Some heat therapy, massage and "some caffeine" helped, but Booth said he was still quite sore during the pre-game warmup.

But he decided to play and helped set up Vancouver's first goal by linemate Ryan Kesler.

"Every stride today, every time I moved my arms, it was just grabbing," Booth said.

The Canucks would have used defenceman Keith Ballard on the wing had Booth not been able to play."