"Ryan Kesler can't imagine a worse injury to try to play through. Shane O'Brien wanted to cross his legs as he spoke about it.

Canucks defenseman Sami Salo is a game-time decision for Game 6 Tuesday (9:30 p.m. ET, VERSUS, CBC, RDS) at GM Place against Chicago after taking a shot off the, well, most delicate area on the male body late in the first period of Game 5 two nights ago. He had to be taken to a Chicago-area hospital via ambulance, and it originally was reported that he had suffered a ruptured testicle, two words that should never be used in hockey -- or really anywhere else in life.

However, Salo was on the ice with the Canucks for their pre-game skate Tuesday morning, and despite skating gingerly, there's a chance he could play in the must-win Game 6. Chicago leads the best-of-seven Western Conference Semifinal series, three games to two.

"Yeah, he took it pretty hard last game, and if he can go he's a warrior," Kesler said. "He's battled through a lot of injuries throughout his career, but he's a warrior, man."

The mere sight of Salo, who was not made available to the media, on the ice at the morning skate served as motivation to the Canucks, who know they have to play better at home in Game 6 than they did in Games 3 and 4, when they were outscored, 12-6, and lost their composure.

"Obviously no one would say anything if he didn't even skate today and took a couple days off or a week off, but Sami has been here a long time and he wants to win," O'Brien said. "Only he knows how much it hurts, and if he can go, he'll go.""