The Vancouver Canucks continue to pick up points on their six-game road trip and they wrap up the Eastern portion of the journey with a stop in Columbus to face the Blue Jackets on Friday evening.
Two games are remaining in this trip and the Canucks have gone 2-1-1 over their first four games of the trip.
Depth scoring came up huge for the Canucks on Wednesday night in a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders. Kiefer Sherwood scored two goals, while Derek Forbort, Aatu Räty, and Teddy Blueger rounded out the scoring.
Thursday is a busy day for the standings with all four of the teams battling with the Canucks for a wild card spot in action. Before Thursday night’s action, the Minnesota Wild had the first wild card spot with 85 points, and the St. Louis Blues held on to the second spot with 83 points.
The Canucks are chasing those two teams and sit with 80 points while the Calgary Flames (79 points) and Utah Hockey Club (75 points) are in the battle for a Western Conference wild card position.
Columbus comes into Thursday’s action in a wild card race of their own. They are two points out of the final spot in the Eastern Conference.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- Defenceman Zach Werenski leads the Blue Jackets with 69 points. He has scored 20 goals and is an offensive force at even-strength and on the power play. Werenski leads the NHL in ice time, averaging 27:06 per game.
- Dante Fabbro joins Werenski on CBJ’s top defence pairing. That duo has played 845 minutes as a pairing this season, which ranks 11th for the most consistent defence pairing in the NHL. They have been on the ice for 39 goals for and 31 against at five-on-five.
- Columbus went on a six-game losing streak before a 4-3 shootout win against the Islanders on Monday. The Blue Jackets have been off since Monday’s game and will be well-rested for their Friday night bout.
- Mathieu Olivier ranks fourth in the league for hits with 267 through 70 games played. He is having a career year with 16 goals and 27 points.
- Elvis Merzlikins has started 47 of their 70 games and posts a 23-19-5 record with an .896% save percentage, a 3.03 goals-against average, and one shutout.
- The Blue Jackets are 18-2-3 when they score the game’s opening goal on home ice.
- Their power play ranks 24th in the league with an 18.6% conversion percentage.
- On the penalty kill, they rank 25th with a 75.8% kill rate.
The Story: Derek Forbort’s Sneaky Offence and Strong Defence
After 82 games without a goal, Forbort has two in his last 10 outings. He is on a two-game point streak after setting up Jonathan Lekkerimäki in the third period of Monday’s game against the New Jersey Devils.
Forbort is known for his defensive skill and has been one of the Canucks’ top contributors on the penalty kill. Adding some offence at this time of the year is a solid boost to the team while he continues to play to his defensive strength.
No player has a better goals-against per minute than Forbort on the penalty kill this season. He has played 103 shorthanded minutes and only been on the ice for four goals against.
