The Vancouver Canucks may have received a break from the NHL schedule-makers for this one. The Blue Jackets were in Buffalo Thursday night to face the sluggish Sabres, meaning the Canucks were the only ones resting their heels in Ohio! Tonight’s game at Nationwide Arena starts at 4 p.m. (SNETP, SNET 650 AM):
THE BIG MATCHUP
Travis Green vs. John Tortorella
It was easy to mock Torts during his year in Vancouver. He came off as someone barely interested in the team. And when he was interested, he was trying to fight coaches and ripping his own players. It’s been a different Tortorella in Columbus. He’s pushed a lot of the right buttons. Now, Green has to push some buttons for the Canucks to get his team out of a 2-11-1 rut.
FIVE KEYS TO THE GAME
1. Chris Tanev’s return
He lost six teeth when a puck smashed into his face in Toronto Saturday. Other teeth that remained in his mouth ended up embedded in his tongue. He still needs gum surgery to fix the mess. Tanev said he’s probably going to play anyway with a full cage.
“It sucked at the time,” Tanev said. “And I still have a lot of shrapnel and nerves which aren’t supposed to be where they are. They have to remove all of that.”
Canucks defenceman Chris Tanev lies on the ice after being hit by a puck against the Leafs on Saturday. Despite his mouth still being a mess, he expects to play in Columbus Friday night.
2. Brock Boeser’s offence
It’s entirely unfair to expect a rookie to carry the Canucks. But if Boeser isn’t producing offensively, the Canucks aren’t producing offensively. That’s been the story for the past month, a stretch in which Boeser has had a hand in nearly 40 per cent of the Canucks’ goals.
Boeser has one goal in five games. That’s fine. He’s not going to score seven out of every 10. But right now the Canucks really need him.
3. Loui Eriksson’s heartbeat
Is anyone in there? Eriksson’s goals-for percentage, which is the ratio of even-strength goals scored when he’s on the ice, is 17.65 per cent since Bo Horvat was hurt. It means opponents have been getting 81.35 per cent of the goals when Eriksson’s playing at evens. This is not good. Eriksson has now gone 17 games without a goal. That’s alarming.
4. Alexander Wennberg returning
Sure, the Canucks are getting healthier even if Brandon Sutter won’t play in this one, and he won’t. The Jackets’ Alexander Wennberg was activated this week and could return against the Canucks. Wennberg is one of Columbus’s better playmakers and was just getting going before he hurt his back Dec. 21. Leading up to his injury he was on a five points in five games run.
5. The Sam Gagner return
If Gagner gets to 40 points this season, it’s about what you would have expected. He has 19 points in 43 games, so he could still, and will if he can continue to stay hot in the second half. Gagner was terrific in a three-point game against Chicago on Dec. 28. He now has eight points in 11 games and it’s hoped he’ll have extra motivation playing the team he was on last season.
CANUCKS’ GAME-DAY LINES
Thomas Vanek, Sam Gagner, Brock Boeser
Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Markus Granlund
Sven Baertschi, Brendan Gaunce, Nikolay Goldobin
Loui Eriksson, Nic Dowd, Jake Virtanen
Defence pairings
Ben Hutton, Chris Tanev
Alex Edler, Troy Stecher
Erik Gudbranson, Michael Del Zotto
Starting goalie: Anders Nilsson
BLUE JACKETS’ GAME-DAY LINES
Artemi Panarin, Pierre Luc-Dubois/Alex Wennberg, Josh Anderson
Jordan Schroeder, Boone Jenner, Nick Foligno
Matt Calvert, Lukas Sedlak, Oliver Bjorkstrand
Tyler Motte, Zac Dalpe/Markus Hannikainen, Andrew Shaw
Defence pairings
Zach Werenski, Seth Jones
Markus Nutivaara, David Savard
Scott Harrington, Jack Johnson
Starting goalie: Joonas Korpisalo
POWER PLAY
Canucks: 20.7% (12th)
Jackets: 12.3% (31st)
PENALTY KILL
Canucks: 78% (27th)
Jackets: 79.7% (21st)
SICK BAY
Canucks: D Brandon Sutter (upper body) day-to-day; C Bo Horvat (foot) week-to-week.
Jackets: D Ryan Murray (upper body) week-to-week; C Brandon Dubinsky (orbital bone) week-to-week; RW Cam Atkinson (foot) week-to-week.
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