It’s the final stop of a seven-game road trip that has seen the Canucks reel off five consecutive wins.
After getting snowed in following a game in Buffalo, the Canucks travel to Columbus to face off with the Blue Jackets at 10 am PT on Monday.
It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day south of the border and with the federal holiday, the Canucks will be playing in the earliest game of their season to conclude this long road trip.
It was announced on Saturday that five Canucks players and their coach Rick Tocchet will be All-Stars in Toronto this year.
J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Thatcher Demko won enough votes to join Quinn Hughes and their coach Rick Tocchet for the weekend of All-Star festivities. All-Star weekend is February 1st to 3rd in Toronto and the Canucks have more representatives than any other team in the league.
Before then, the Canucks have some games to take care of and Monday’s 10 am affair against the Blue Jackets is next up on the docket.
The Blue Jackets are the 28th-ranked team in the league and currently sit with a 13-21-9 record after a 7-4 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night. The Blue Jackets have improved their play since earlier in the season – there was a 14-game stretch earlier in the year where they only picked up one win.
They are 2-4-4 in their last 10 games and tend to either go to overtime against the opposition or get blown out. Thirty percent of CBJ’s games this season have been games that were decided in the extra frame or in the shootout.
We won’t be seeing a few notable Blue Jackets as Boone Jenner, Patrik Laine, and Zach Werenski are all injured.
Offensively, the team is led by Johnny Gaudreau. The 30-year-old winger has 26 points through 43 games this season. Gaudreau has been skating alongside Cole Sillinger and Yegor Chinakhov on the Jackets’ top line.
The second line is blasted full of young talent with 2023 third-overall pick Adam Fantilli in the middle, Emil Bemstrom on the right wing and local kid Kent Johnson on the left.
Fantilli has buried 11 goals this season while adding 14 assists for 25 points through 43 games. He is a big centre who dominated college hockey as an 18-year-old last year. Fantilli has a ton of skill to go with his speed and size.
Port Moody’s own Kent Johnson is a former BCHLer who played a pair of seasons with the Trail Smoke Eaters before heading to the University of Michigan. Johnson was selected 5th overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft and he has plenty of speed and skill but is currently trying to find his place in the NHL. Johnson has spent 10 games in the AHL this season, where he has five goals and 10 assists. In the NHL, Johnson has scored six goals and added eight assists for 14 points in 27 games with the Blue Jackets.
Elvis Merzlikins had started 23 of CBJ’s 43 games this season and we will see Merzlikins start on Monday. However, Merzlikins has not made a start in 2024 and may be looking for a new home away from Columbus. Former Canuck Spencer Martin has been the primary backup but the Blue Jackets are currently rolling with three goaltenders on their roster and are giving Daniil Tarasov the bulk of starts early in 2024.
Quick Hits on the Competition:
- The Blue Jackets’ leading goal scorer is Kirill Marchenko. He’s scored 14 goals in 41 games and will be the player to watch for on the power play. Marchenko leads his team with six power play goals.
- They will ice four players who are 21 and under on Monday: Adam Fantilli (19), David Jiricek (20), Cole Sillinger (20), and Kent Johnson (21).
- Their penalty kill is middle-of-the-pack and sits in 16th with a 79.3% kill rate. They are the only team in the league without a shorthanded goal this season.
- They have the 25th-ranked power play in the league. It’s clicking at 15% on the year.
The Canucks have been solid during this road trip, and after a 1-0 shutout victory for Thatcher Demko on Saturday night, they are now looking to make it six road wins in a row and close out this road trip with a bang.
With 15 road wins on the season, there’s no team in the NHL with more wins away from home.
Saturday’s win saw the Canucks extend their excellent record of holding leads in the third period. They are now 26-0-0 when leading after two periods.
There have been multiple sources for victories during this road trip. The Lotto Line has been stellar, the depth has been clutch, and on Saturday, the Canucks showed that they could win an uncomfortable 1-0 game.
With his goal on Saturday, Sam Lafferty became the 8th player on the Canucks to hit double-digit goals. He joins Brock Boeser (27), Elias Pettersson (22), J.T. Miller (19), Nils Höglander (12), Quinn Hughes (11), Dakota Joshua (11) and Ilya Mikheyev (10).
The Canucks have only given up three power play goals against over their last 11 games. Their 88.8% kill rate over that stretch has helped raise their season total to 78.7%.
Canucks’ Top Performer over the Last Five:
Elias Pettersson: 7g-5a-12p
J.T. Miller: 3g-5a-8p
Brock Boeser: 3g-4a-7p
Filip Hronek: 1g-6a-7p
Quinn Hughes: 1g-4a-5p
Another reminder about the 10 am PT start time for you on Monday. If you can sneak it while you’re at work, you can watch the game on Sportsnet or maybe Monday is the time for you to sneak in a headphone in the office and listen to Brendan Batchelor wrangle the radio broadcast on Sportsnet 650.
Final reminder: 10 am PT start on Monday!
