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Scenes from morning skate: Höglander scratched, Willander returns as Canucks wrap up road trip vs. Blue Jackets
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Photo credit: © Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Jan 15, 2026, 13:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 15, 2026, 12:52 EST
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The Vancouver Canucks (16-25-5) wrap up a six-game road trip when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets (20-19-7) at Nationwide Arena. Tonight’s game is set to begin at 4 pm PT.
The Canucks have dropped five straight in regulation and are winless in eight (0-6-2).

What we saw

At the tail end of their lengthy road trip, the Canucks held a full morning skate this morning. Based on line rushes, Nils Höglander looks like he will be coming out of the lineup tonight and replaced by Arshdeep Bains, who is slated to play his first NHL game since December 11th. Tom Willander is also expected to return to action after being scratched against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday. He’ll take PO Joseph’s spot on the blueline. Willander skated on the left side of an all-right-handed duo with Victor Mancini.
In an effort to shake Brock Boeser out of his 21-game goal-scoring drought, he’s getting new linemates tonight. Boeser will play the right side with Max Sasson in the middle and Drew O’Connor on left wing.
Kevin Lankinen makes his second straight start after suffering a 2-1 loss in Ottawa on Tuesday. Lankinen allowed both Sens goals 15 seconds apart late in the first period, but after that was spectacular as the Canucks were outshot 40-20 on the night.
Elias Pettersson has scored in back-to-back games and has four goals in his last six games. His third period goal in Ottawa on Tuesday moved him into sole possession of 10th on the franchise’s all time goal-scoring list with 198.
Linus Karlsson has assisted on both of Pettersson’s last two goals and has a team-leading 5+5=10 over the past 12 games. 

The Opponent

The Blue Jackets made a winner of interim head coach Rick Bowness in his return behind an NHL bench when they beat the Calgary Flames 5-3 on Tuesday night. Bowness was hired on Monday to replace Dean Evason. Charlie Coyle scored twice, and Zack Werenski had a goal and two assists. 
Werenski leads the Blue Jackets with 17 goals and 50 points. As a defenceman, he has 40 goals since the beginning of last season. He leads all NHL defencemen in goals and is second to Cale Makar in blueliner scoring this season. Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov sit tied for second in team goal scoring with 16 apiece.
Bowness clearly has some work to do with the Jackets’ penalty kill, as all three Calgary goals came on the power play. CBJ is 29th in the league on the PK at 74.6%.
It’s been a tough go for Port Moody’s Kent Johnson. The 23-year-old, who had a breakout season with 24 goals and 57 points, including 15 points on the power play in 68 games last year, has just four goals and 12 points this season and hasn’t picked up a single point with the man advantage. He has just one goal in his last 19 games.
The Canucks will face Elvis Merzlikins in goal tonight. He is 6-7-1 with a 4.03 GAA and an .877 save percentage. He has started just one of the team’s last 11 games, and his last win came on December 4th. Jet Greaves has emerged as the number one goalie in Columbus and gets the night off, having logged more minutes than any other netminder in the league since early December.
Former Canuck Erik Gudbranson has been activated from IR and will return to the lineup tonight for the first time since October 25th. The 34-year-old blueliner has appeared in just four games this season.

News and notes

The Canucks beat the Blue Jackets 4-3 on November 8th at Rogers Arena. That was the only time Jake DeBrusk has scored at 5-on-5 this season.
The referees for tonight’s game are Frederick L’Ecuyer and Furhman South.
Don’t forget to join Rink Wide Vancouver for full postgame coverage after this game – and every game. The livestream starts moments after the final buzzer. Rink Wide is the place for full postgame analysis and discussion. Join the live YouTube chat with your thoughts on the hockey game. 
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