Gameday: Columbus Blue Jackets at Vancouver Canucks

Saturday, March 31, 2018 – 4:00 EST
Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC
TV: Fox Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 WBNS FM
Opponent’s Blog: Nucks Misconduct

Columbus Blue Jackets, 44-29-5, 93 points, 3rd Metro, 6th East

vs.

Vancouver Canucks, 29-40-9, 67 points, 7th Pacific, 14th West

Season Series

01/12/2018 VAN 5 @ CBJ 2
03/31/2018 CBJ @ VAN

Preview

We’ve got matinee hockey today from Canada’s West Coast, as the Columbus Blue Jackets continue their push for the playoffs. They’ve won the first two games of their Western Canada road trip, and look for the sweep against Vancouver.

The Canucks are out of playoff contention, but have won 3 games in a row coming into today. This is impressive considering they’ve suffered several major season-ending injuries, including to rookie phenom Brock Boeser. He still leads the team in goals and points despite only playing 62 games. Our old friend Derek Dorsett leads the team in PIM despite suffering a career ending back injury in late November.

It’s also worth noting that Vancouver decisively defeated Columbus in Nationwide back in January. How much would we like to have those 2 points back right now?

Speaking of old friends, Vancouver features Sam Gagner playing with the Sedin Twins. The Canucks lineup also includes Tyler Motte and Jussi Jokinen, both traded in exchange for Thomas Vanek.

Expect the same lineup for the Blue Jackets, assuming Brandon Dubinsky is recovered from the illness that sat him for most of Thursday’s game.

Other games of note

There are several other games today which will have an impact on the CBJ’s place in the standings:

1:00 P.M.: Florida at Boston
7:00 P.M.: NY Islanders at New Jersey
7:00 P.M.: Montreal at Pittsburgh

Today we are all Bruins, Islanders, and Canadiens fans.

Stats

Projected Lineups