Vancouver Canucks at Columbus Blue Jackets - Friday November 28 - 4:00 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 15-6-1 second in Pacific Division
Columbus Blue Jackets: 6-13-2 eighth in Metropolitan Division
One of the keys to the Vancouver Canucks' success so far this season is that they've been even better on the road as they've been at home. Vancouver is 7-3-1 at Rogers Arena in 2014-15, and 8-3-0 away from home. Those road points have made the difference in keeping the Canucks near the top of the standings, especially when you consider that two of those road losses came against Dallas and Colorado during that first road trip of the season.
The Canucks will have completed 18 of their season's 41 road games by the time they complete this seven-game road swing on December 9. First up: the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets.
After sneaking into the playoffs and pushing the Pittsburgh Penguins in an entertaining first-round series, the Blue Jackets looked like they were primed to take a step forward this year, but the team has been decimated by injuries.
Prized free agent signing Nathan Horton is suffering from what could be a career-ending back condition. Leader Brandon Dubinsky is close to making his first appearance of the season after undergoing abdominal surgery in October. Second-overall pick from 2012 Ryan Murray continues to be dogged by a knee injury that has limited him to just four games this season. Boone Jenner has played just 10 games since breaking his hand during preseason.
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has been back in the lineup for a couple of weeks after missing seven games with a fractured finger, but he's 1-3-1 since returning and has uncharacteristically given up three goals or more in his last four starts. He is expected to start tonight for Columbus.
Defenseman Tim Erixon draws into the Columbus blue line tonight, while former Canucks prospect Kevin Connauton will be a healthy scratch.
If there's one bright spot in the Blue Jackets' lineup, it's Port Moody's Ryan Johansen, who hasn't missed a beat since his contentious contract holdout during the summer. Johansen leads the Jackets with eight goals and 24 points in 21 games—good for eighth spot on the NHL's list of scoring leaders.
Eleven of Johansen's 24 points have come on the power play, where the Blue Jackets have been solid. They're ranked fifth overall with a 23.2 percent success rate, while Vancouver currently sits 19th, at 18.3 percent.
We haven't checked in on Vancouver's overall faceoff stats for awhile: it looks like Bo Horvat is single-handedly dragging the team up the standings. The Canucks are now ranked 19th in that category as well, with a 49 success rate. Teams are bunched together pretty tightly: Columbus is 24th at 48 percent.
No suprise here: Ryan Miller will get the start in net for Vancouver. The road trip features only one pair of back-to-back games—next Saturday in Toronto, followed by a Sunday game in Ottawa. Will that be Eddie Lack's only start of the trip?
As I mentioned yesterday, Zack Kassian's not on the road trip with the team.
That means tonight's third line will be made up of three centres, reports Canucks colour man Dave Tomlinson:
Brad Ziemer has
a good story in today's
Vancouver Sun about the return to Columbus of former Blue Jacket Derek Dorsett. He married a local girl, still makes his offseason home in Columbus, and rubs shoulders with some greats from the golf world as a member of the acclaimed Muirfield Village Golf Club.
As someone who should know, Alex Burrows say Dorsett has fit in very well with the Canucks.
I am seeing a fan favourite in the making,” Burrows said.
“I love his game, his work ethic is superb. He is feisty. He wants to win. He wants to do well. He will step up for his teammates. It has only been a couple of months that he has been around, but he has gelled really well with everyone in the locker-room.”
Of course, Dorsett would have to hang around for more than one year to become a real fan favourite. He's scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season on a contract with a cap hit of $1.633 million.
Shawn Matthias and Brad Richardson are also on their way to free agency. Is it too early to start talking contract extension for Dorsett?
Don't forget - tonight's game is an early 4:00 start here on the west coast. If you have some time today, you could watch a hockey triple-header. The Rangers and Flyers are already underway on Sportsnet, and will be followed by the Blackhawks at Ducks at 1:00.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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