Columbus Blue Jackets (16-11-2, 34pts) vs.
Vancouver Canucks (16-8-4, 36pts)
Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
10:00 PM EST
TV: none / Radio: WBNS 97.1 FM
(Dispatch Preview / SportsDirect Preview)
No rest for the weary. It’s time to find out TRULY what this team is made of. If they want us to take them seriously, they’re going to have to build off of their third period from Monday that earned them an OTL point after clawing back into a game it looked like was a sure-fire loss in the first period. Coach Scott Arniel is making the move to Mathieu Garon as his starting goalie… at least for tonight. The Jackets have three games in the next four days across three time zones, so we haven’t seen the last of Steve Mason, either. Despite being almost equal in the standings, the Canucks look to be a better team than the Jackets on paper. It’s time to put on the BIG BOY PANTS.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets:
| SC1: | Rick Nash | Derick Brassard | Jakub Voracek |
| SC2: | Tom Sestito | Antoine Vermette | RJ Umberger |
| CK1: | Ethan Moreau | Sammy Pahlsson | Derek Dorsett |
| CK2: | Chris Clark | Kyle Wilson | Andrew Murray |
| D1: | Jan Hejda | Fedor Tyutin | |
| D2: | Rostislav Klesla | Marc Methot | |
| D3: | Kris Russell | Mike Commodore | |
| G: | Mathieu Garon |
Vancouver Canucks:
| SC1: | Daniel Sedin | Henrik Sedin | Alexandre Burrows |
| SC2: | Jeff Tambellini | Ryan Kesler | Mikael Samuelsson |
| CK1: | Raffi Torres | Manny Malhotra | Jannik Hansen |
| CK2: | Tanner Glass | Alexandre Bolduc | Jonas Andersson |
| D1: | Dan Hamhuis | Kevin Bieksa | |
| D2: | Alexander Edler | Keith Ballard | |
| D3: | Aaron Rome | Andrew Alberts | |
| G: | Roberto Luongo |
Team Rankings
Scoring:
CBJ – 2.55 gpg (21st NHL)
VAN – 3.21 gpg (4th NHL)
Defense:
CBJ – 2.69 gapg (14th NHL)
VAN – 2.57 gapg (t7th NHL)
Power Play:
CBJ – 11.7% (29th NHL)
VAN – 25.0% (1st NHL)
Penalty Kill:
CBJ – 80.5% (t22nd NHL)
VAN – 85.0% (6th NHL)
Season Matchups
This is the first of four matchups this season. The Jackets finished 1-2-1 vs. the Canucks last season:
12/15/10 – Columbus @ Vancouver – 10:00 PM EST
12/23/10 – Vancouver @ Columbus – 7:00 PM EST
03/01/11 – Columbus @ Vancouver – 10:00 PM EST
03/27/11 – Vancouver @ Columbus – 5:00 PM EDT
Game Notes
On paper, this does not look like a good one for Columbus. Vancouver leads them in all of the major stat categories, and the Jackets have to be a little road-weary at this point. Two things jump out: 1) Vancouver can score, and 2) their Power Play should not be messed with. By the numbers, if the Jackets take four minor penalties tonight, that’s a goal right there. They are not a team right now that can give up free goals, with the way they’ve been (not) scoring of late.
There’s something to be said about this group’s moxie, as they were down 2-0 in the first five minutes on Monday, on the road, against a desperate team. And still, they found a way to get to overtime and get a point; they deserved better than that. Part of that resurrection was Mathieu Garon coming in and calming the troops a bit, as he replaced Mason after that second goal, went the distance, and wasn’t scored upon until overtime. The Jackets will need that same solid, calming presence tonight from Garon if they want a chance to win.
Believe it or not, the CBJ’s Power Play is starting to show some signs of life. The machines might still be doing the feeding and breathing, but they’re still alive with PP goals in four of their last five games. Whether that’s a blip on the radar or the start of a trend, who can say? All I know is that it’s better than seeing the CBJ’s opponents take penalties at will because they know Columbus won’t make them pay on the PP.
Rick Nash is doing a lot of the heavy lifting on offense for Columbus, which is nothing new. The Jackets need some secondary scoring to step up. Aaron Portzline from The Dispatch puts the return of winger Kristian Huselius at “50-50” for tonight, and Juice’s return after six weeks out with a high-ankle sprain would certainly be a shot in the arm for the offense as well as the Power Play. Nothing definitive yet, though.
Vancouver also sports some guys the Jackets are familiar with on their third line in Raffi Torres and Manny Malhotra. Both were Jackets as recently as last year (Torres) and two years ago (Malhotra). Torres is a game-changer, as we well know, and one can imagine both of these guys with a little extra jump tonight going against their former mates. Likewise, you just never know what will happen between RJ Umberger and his former Ohio State teammate Ryan Kesler. Those two DO NOT like each other, and fought tooth and nail two years ago during a game in Vancouver. It was rumored in some places that part of the reason Umberger was left off of the USA Olympic team was because of the long-standing feud between those two, and Kesler got the nod because the tournament was being held in his home building. But, the last thing I was to do on this site is peddle unsubstantiated rumors.
Overall, the Jackets were beasts in the third period on Monday. They forechecked the Flames into submission, and very easily could have scored three or four times (the inability to finish is another topic of discussion for another time). We need to see more of that tonight, and we need to see it early to avoid falling behind early. Vancouver is a solid offensive team, so the best remedy is to outwork them in their own zone and not allow them to set up the offense.
Oh, and think Scott Arniel isn’t really wanting to win this one? He came to Columbus this year after four seasons coaching the Manitoba Moose, also known as: Vancouver’s AHL affiliate. In other words, Arniel knows a lot of these guys. He’s worked with a lot of them, and coached a lot of them. Think there won’t be a little extra glint in his eye tonight?
From The Outside Looking In
Nucks Misconduct
Benched Whale
The Canuck Way
Next Game For The Jackets
Thursday, December 16, 2010
9:00 PM EST
Columbus Blue Jackets @ Edmonton Oilers