The Vancouver Canucks will continue their six-game road trip when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets Friday evening.

Despite playing without several key skaters, the Canucks have managed a 2-1-1 record in the first four games of the road trip and are now 19-13-5 on the road this season. They enter Friday’s slate five points back of the searing hot St. Louis Blues for the final playoff spot, but do hold two games in hand.

Despite posting a record of 2-7-1 over their last ten games, the Blue Jackets are also right in the thick of the Wild Card race. They enter tonight’s matchup just two points behind the Montreal Canadiens and hold one game in hand.

I’ll detail the relevant game notes, as well as outline my favourite betting angle below.

The push for the playoffs has brought out the best from a number of Canucks skaters, as a number of unexpected players have elevated their game recently to help the team find success despite an ugly injury situation. The Canucks were deserving 5-2 winners versus the New York Islanders on Wednesday, authoring a respectable defensive performance while once again looking more threatening offensively.

The Canucks lead 3.61 to 3.44 in expected goals and generated 14 high-danger scoring chances. Over the last 10 games, Vancouver owns a 53.71% expected goal share and has generated 3.37 xGF/60.

It appears as though head coach Rick Tocchet’s defensive corps is jumping up in the play offensively more often and has been more aggressive on the walls in the offensive zone. As a result the Canucks have spent a little less time in the defensive zone, which is leading to better offensive results, while the team’s defensive metrics remain consistent with the rest of the year.

Thatcher Demko outperforming Ilya Sorokin was a big part of the story in Wednesday’s game, but Demko’s performance certainly wasn’t the only positive for Vancouver. Demko has been great in both outings since returning from injury and now holds a +3.1 GSAx rating and a .892 save percentage in 19 games this season.

Kevin Lankinen is expected to make the start tonight after sitting out the previous two games, as Arturs Silovs served as Demko’s backup.

It will be interesting to see if skaters such as Pius Suter, Teddy Blueger and Aatu Räty can continue offering above-average results in their respective roles moving forward. It’s a common theme in the NHL for players to exceed expectations in elevated roles for a game or two, but what is difficult is sustaining that level over a larger sample of play.

With Elias Pettersson, Filip Chytil and Nils Höglander all sidelined, the Canucks offensive group does not look very impressive on paper, but the underlying results show the team has not taken a step backwards.

Like the Canucks, the Blue Jackets have been hampered by some tough luck with injuries this season, but Columbus seems to be through the worst of it.

Sean Monahan has played just 43 games after suffering a significant wrist injury on January 7 and was performing like a true number-one centre prior to the injury. Monahan returned to the lineup on Monday versus the Islanders and recorded two assists in the team’s shootout victory.

Monahan, Dmitri Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko have compiled one of the league’s very best offensive units this season. In 242.2 minutes together, they have outscored opponents 23-6. Their 79.3% goal share is the best mark of any line that has spent over 200 minutes together.

With Monahan back in the fold, Adam Fantilli slots down onto the second line, offering the Blue Jackets a strong 1-2 punch at the critical center ice position. The second line has also been bolstered by the return of Captain Boone Jenner, who has put up 11 points in 14 games since returning after the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

It’s been a brutal month for the Blue Jackets offensively, as they have scored just 2.18 goals per game. They have scored on just 8.09% of shots on goal, though, and have played a number of the league’s very best defensive teams. While they may not be as much of an offensive powerhouse as we saw earlier on in the campaign, it seems likely they are a better offensive team than we have seen lately, especially with Monahan back in the mix.

Elvis Merzlikins has been confirmed as the starter in this matchup. He holds a -0.3 GSAx rating and a .896 save percentage in 47 appearances this season.

After the Canucks opened as slight betting favourites yesterday, the prices have swung quite heavily in favour of Columbus, which was a possibility that I outlined at the end of yesterday’s episode of the Puck Portfolio.

The Blue Jackets have a rest advantage in this matchup and will be playing at close to full strength with Monahan back in the mix. They have not been as sharp defensively as the Canucks, but feature far more offensive firepower with Pettersson, Chytil and Höglander all sidelined due to injury.

At the current price of -125, I still lean with the Blue Jackets in terms of a side, but I see more value backing Zach Werenski to record over 2.5 shots on goal at -140. Like Hughes, Werenski continues to play a ton of minutes and spends the most time of any Blue Jacket with the puck on his stick. He’s averaged 18.39 shot attempts per 60 over the last 10 games while averaging 28:23 of time-on-ice.