Thursday March 19 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets - 7:00 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 40-25-4, 84 points, second in Pacific Division Columbus Blue Jackets: 31-35-4, 66 points, seventh in Metropolitan Division
After an emotional night at Rogers Arena on Tuesday, the Vancouver Canucks will look to wrap up their five-game homestand on a winning note when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Vancouver is 5-2-1 so far in the month of March, with the only blemishes on the record being the home losses to San Jose and Los Angeles and the shootout loss to Arizona down in the desert.
Here's the latest word from practice to start the speculation on tonight's lineup:
Kassian skated on his own prior to full group gameday skate. No Richardson on the ice. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/NiRWW0wwpI
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) March 19, 2015My guess would be that means Kassian will probably miss another game.
Richardson too? That would be a blow—he has been a solid contributor in his two games back in the lineup, with nice assists in each game and his usual strong defensive play. But he did indicate to Ben Kuzma when he came back that his ankle is still an issue:
We’re probably looking until summer until I feel 100 per cent. Once I get in the boot, it (foot) is pretty stable and I get can through the year with no problems. I thought I was going to be out two days and it was eight weeks. You have shoulder surgery and you know you’re going to be our four to six months. This one, I had no idea.
Richardson played right through to the end of the third period on Tuesday, so I'm going to speculate that he's being given a little time off to rest ahead of the Canucks' huge game against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
It looks like Linden Vey will draw back in. Here's the full lineup from practice:
Nux lines at morning skate: 22-33-14; 27-13-17; 20-7-51; 41-53-36. Extra: 21. Def: 23-8; 2-6; 5-3; 18-44. No richardson, kassian. #canucks
— Elliott Pap (@ElliottPap) March 19, 2015Willie switched up the defense pairings in the third period against the Flyers, putting Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Bieksa together, along with Sbisa/Weber. But he's back to his usual pairs today.
On defense, Ryan Stanton and Adam Clendening will continue to sit as the extra skaters, while Frank Corrado has now been reassigned to Utica.
Corrado tweeted yesterday about the funeral of team friend/Easton rep Mark Slavin, which many Canuck players and staff, past and present, attended on their team day off.
Mark Slavin my 1st bus. partner in '83 tough to watch T Linden,K Bieksa,A.Edler,M.Naslund,M Ohlund S.Smyl shovel dirt onto his coffin today
— Bill Wilms (@BillFairway) March 19, 2015Another example of how highly Mark Slavin was thought of by #Canucks players. Jarkko Ruutu is here from Finland for tomorrow's service.
— Brad Ziemer (@BradZiemer) March 18, 2015As far as Ryan Miller's injury goes, here's some clarification from his agent, Mike Liut:
Agent Mike Liut on Ryan Miller's knee injury : "He is not behind schedule, he is on schedule." #Canucks
— News1130 Sports (@News1130Sports) March 19, 2015More Liut : "This injury is never 4 weeks for a goalie, it's 6-8 weeks. #Canucks
— News1130 Sports (@News1130Sports) March 19, 2015Miller is just coming up on the four-week mark since he was hurt—and there's just over three weeks left in the regular season. So, that would put him on track to be ready to return just before, or just after, the beginning of the playoffs.
The Canucks do have back-to-backs coming up this weekend. I'll expect to see Eddie Lack on Saturday against the Kings, while Markstrom gets the start on Sunday afternoon in Arizona.
As for tonight's game, the Columbus Blue Jackets are on a back-to-back of their own, after a 4-3 shootout win over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. Columbus might look like easy pickins', but the Jackets have now won four of their last five games.
Twenty-year-old rookie Marko Dano has been the hot hand of late after being recalled from Springfield a month ago.
The Jackets' season has been derailed by injuries—leading the NHL with 444 man games lost. By comparison, Vancouver ranks 14th at 187.
There have been some bright spots for Columbus—Nick Foligno is having a breakout year and despite the lack of buzz, Ryan Johansen is just four points away from eclipsing his career-high of 63 points, a mark he set last season.
Columbus' latest scratch is Brandon Dubinsky, who didn't play Wednesday in Edmonton after reportedly being injured in practice on Tuesday.
On the out-of-town scoreboard, the Los Angeles Kings picked up a single point against Anaheim on Wednesday thanks to a late goal by (who else?) Justin Williams, but Ryan Kesler scored in overtime to prevent the two-point win.
The Kings remain two points behind Vancouver and hang onto third spot in the Pacific for now.
Tonight, Calgary plays Philadelphia while Winnipeg hosts St. Louis—and in a critical matchup on the Eastern Conference side, Ottawa hosts Boston, where a regulation win would pull the Senators within two points of the Bruins for the last wild card spot.
I put together this piece for Bleacher Report yesterday, breaking down all the details of the remaining games for the bubble teams in both conferences. If the Canucks can keep playing like they're playing—and somehow manage a split in those last two games against the Kings—I think they'll be just fine.
Since I was up late writing last night, I haven't had a chance yet to catch the premiere of "Hockey Wives," which debuted on the W Network. Did anybody watch?