Columbus returns to the ice tonight after a few days of rest and crossing into Western Canada, to conclude their season series with the Canucks at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Canucks have been roaring back in the standings since the turnover in management, including the new President of Hockey Operations (Jim Rutherford) and head coach (Bruce Boudreau). The experience calls for offense but also trade talks to continue to sizzle in the west coast. Vancouver is facing uncertainty with their lineup changes as Luke Schenn and Juho Lahmmikko have been placed in the COVID protocol.
The Blue Jackets are seeing signs of progress as winger Patrik Laine is practicing with the team in Canada, but is not in tonight. They are remaining with the same lineup as Saturday against the Seattle Kraken.
Projected Lineups
Vancouver Canucks
Jason Dickinson—Bo Horvat—Nils Hoglander Tanner Pearson—JT Miller—Brock Boeser Vasily Podkolzin— Elias Petterson—Connor Garland Tyler Motte—Justin Dowling—Alex Chassion
Quinn Hughes—Tyler Myers Tucker Poolman—Noah Juulsen Brad Hunt—Kyle Burroughs
Thatcher Demko Jaroslav Halak
Scratched— Phil Di Gisuippe Injured— Brady Keeper, Michael Ferland, Brandon Sutter, Matthew Highmore, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Travis Hamonic, Luke Schenn, Juho Lammikko
Columbus Blue Jackets
Gregory Hoffman—Boone Jenner—Oliver Bjorkstrand Max Domi—Jack Roslovic—Jakub Voracek Gustav Nyquist—Cole Sillinger—Justin Danforth Eric Robinson—Sean Kuraly—Alexandre Texier
Zach Werenski—Jake Bean Vladislav Gavrikov—Andrew Peeke Gabriel Carlsson—Gavin Bayreuther
Elvis Merzlikins Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched—Yegor Chinakov, Scott Harrington, Jake Christiansen Injured— Patrik Laine, Dean Kukan, Adam Boqvist, Nathan Gerbe
Keys to Victory
Defense— the Canucks are now able to let their offensive firepower run laps around their opponents, and the young Columbus defense has to get in front of it to shut them down on their home turf.
Goaltending Battle— Merzlikins is battling the first star of the week in Demko, and he’s gotta play better than he has recently to keep his squad in the game.
Center Depth— Columbus’ centers need to take possession of the puck off the draws to prevent the most amount of chances from the quality of depth the Canucks have in skill. Matchups will be key in this decision.
Thoughts? More to come…