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VANCOUVER CANUCKS FRIDAY, DEC. 6 10:00 P.M. ROGERS ARENA VANCOUVER, BC, CAN |
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CANUCKS: |
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The Columbus Blue Jackets started to find their offense in Thursday night's 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
Now, they have to find their defense — and more specifically, their penalty kill.
Another chance at that — and to get back over the .500 mark — comes Friday night when the Blue Jackets head from Edmonton's Rogers Place to Vancouver's Rogers Arena to do battle with the Canucks.
This is third game of a road trip that, with the exception of Sunday's win in Chicago, is the western Canadian road trip for the Blue Jackets. They lost 3-0 (their first shutout loss of the season) Tuesday night in Calgary.
The road trip concludes Sunday evening against the Winnipeg Jets.
Here's what to know when the Blue Jackets and Canucks hit the ice against each other for the first time this season:
| COLUMBUS | SEASON STATS | VANCOUVER | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.44 | 8th | GOALS FOR | 11th | 3.25 |
| 3.60 | 30th | GOALS AGAINST | 24th | 3.17 |
| 17.2% | 23rd | POWER PLAY | 11th | 23.3% |
| 72.0% | 29th | PENALTY KILL | t-10th | 80.8% |
| 31.0 | t-3rd | SHOTS FOR | 27th | 27.3 |
| 28.9 | 19th | SHOTS AGAINST | t-12th | 28.3 |
| 48.8% | 23rd | FACEOFFS | 20th | 49.2% |
| VANCOUVER: LAST THREE GAMES | ||||
| FRI, 11/29 | @ Sabres | W, 4-3 (OT) | ||
| MON, 12/1 | @ Red Wings | W, 5-4 (OT) | ||
| TUE, 12/3 | @ Wild | L, 3-2 (OT) | ||
| VANCOUVER: TEAM LEADERS | ||||
| GOALS | Jake DeBrusk | 11 | ||
| ASSISTS | Quinn Hughes | 23 | ||
| POINTS | Quinn Hughes | 29 | ||
| ODDS & PROJECTIONS | ||||
| CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK: | 33% | |||
| CBJ ODDS PER ESPNBET: | +190 | |||
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RE: VANCOUVER
The Canucks are playing a lot of extra hockey as of late. Their overtime loss to the Minnesota on Tuesday night was their third straight overtime games, and their sixth of the last seven to be decided by one goal. ... That loss concluded a six-game road trip from Vancouver, while tonight's game against Columbus begins a six-game home stand ... Kevin Lankinen gets the start for Vancouver. He's been great, posting a 12-3-3 record in his 18 starts, a .906 save percentage, and a 2.66 goals against average.
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ABOUT THAT PENALTY KILL...
It's bad. The Blue Jackets have allowed a power play goal in a franchise-record 11 straight games, and have allowed seven (in 15 opportunities) in just the last three games. Columbus will hard-pressed to win games when the penalty kill is, as it has been during this 11-game streak, only 61% effective.
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COLE HEATIN' UP
Cole Sillinger had a goal and an assist Thursday night, giving him a multi-point game for the second time in three games and third time in the last sex.
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LINEUP CHANGES & PROJECTIONS
With Daniil Tarasov getting the start Thursday night, it'll be Elvis Merzlikins between the pipes Friday as Columbus heads into the second half of a back-to-back. James van Riemsdyk is in for Mikael Pyyhtia, and Kent Johnson has been added to the top line in a switch with Dmitri Voronkov. Here are the complete projections:
| LW | C | RW | |||
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| 91 | Kent Johnson | 23 | Sean Monahan | 82 | Kirill Marchenko |
| 10 | Dmitri Voronkov | 19 | Adam Fantilli | 4 | Cole Sillinger |
| 27 | Zach Aston-Reese | 17 | Justin Danforth | 24 | Mathieu Olivier |
| 21 | James van Riemsdyk | 7 | Sean Kuraly | 62 | Kevin Labanc |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zach Werenski | 15 | Dante Fabbro |
| 78 | Damon Severson | 9 | Ivan Provorov |
| 2 | Jake Christiansen | 22 | Jordan Harris |
| Starting Goalie | Back-Up | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | Elvis Merzlikins | 40 | Daniil Tarasov |
