"Alain Vigneault started Pavol Demitra on the fourth line the last time the Canucks played, but the Slovak and leading Olympic scorer will be on the second line Tuesday night against Columbus.

"Pavol was out for so long, we were just trying to get him to find his timing and his rhythm," the coach said after the depleted Canucks practiced at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Monday afternoon. "But if he's going to help our team, he's a top-two-line player, without a doubt."

Demitra missed the first 47 games of the season recovering from shoulder surgeries and complications, then left the club on its pre-Olympics road trip after his wife was hospitalized, returning to play in the final game of the trip at Minnesota and starting on a line with Darcy Hordichuk and Rick Rypien."