The Vancouver Canucks (13-7-4) open a six-game homestand tonight when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets (11-11-3) at Rogers Arena. It’s a battle between two teams led in scoring by defencemen – Quinn Hughes and Zach Werenski.
While backup goalies aren’t usually in the spotlight, that’s not the case tonight, as Thatcher Demko suits up for the Canucks for the first time this season. 

What we saw

Kevin Lankinen makes his fourth straight start in goal, but Demko will dress for the first time since Game 1 of the opening round of the playoffs last spring. He has missed all season to this point battling back from an issue with a left popliteus (knee) injury. Lankinen and Demko were two of nine players who took part in a highly optional morning skate. The Canucks will go with the same 18 skaters they used in Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime loss in Minnesota. The only change may be that Max Sasson centres the fourth line with Aatu Räty and Danton Heinen. To this point in his brief NHL career, Sasson has only been on the wing.
Earlier today, the Canucks returned Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Cole McWard to AHL Abbotsford. Both were recalled on Thursday morning and skated with the team yesterday. Quinn Hughes took a maintenance day and was excused from practice yesterday, but the captain will play tonight. He opened the scoring against the Wild on the power play on Tuesday and has two goals and 10 points on a five-game point streak.
The Canucks are 3-5-3 in their first 11 games on home ice this season. Elias Pettersson leads the team with five home goals and is the only player on the roster with more than three goals at Rogers Arena. 
Pettersson has feasted against the Jackets in his time in the NHL scoring 10 goals in 10 career games against Columbus.
The Canucks have scored a power play goal in three straight games and five of their last six. In 15 games since November 1st, the Canucks power play is cooking at 27.3% and is eighth in the league over that span.
Kiefer Sherwood is a native of Columbus, OH. Undrafted, he played in both the USHL and college hockey in Ohio before turning pro. Dakota Joshua spent four seasons at Ohio State University in Columbus.

The opponent

The Blue Jackets are here after a 6-3 loss in Edmonton last night. Columbus dropped both games in Alberta before making its way west over the Rockies. Despite back to back losses, the Jackets have been playing well of late going 5-2-1 in their last eight outings.
Daniil Tarasov got the start last night which means Elvis Merzlikins is the likely starter tonight. The 30-year-old Latvian is 8-6-2 on the season with a 3.00 GAA and an 89.4% save percentage.
The Jackets are led in scoring by Zach Weresnki who has eight goals and 27 points. Kirill Marchenko leads the Jackets with 10 goals. Veteran Sean Monahan is having a fine season registering 22 points in 24 games.
As a team, the Blue Jackets lead the league with 18 goals from their blueline after Damon Severson scored his fifth of the season last night. Severson led CBJ in ice time at 25:22 last night followed closely by Werenski at 24:51 and Ivan Provorov at 24:43.
For the 11th straight game the Blue Jackets allowed at least one power play goal. It’s the longest streak in franchise history and the longest in the NHL in nearly 20 years. In those 11 games, CBJ’s penalty kill is at 60.4% and for the season is now 29th in the NHL at 72.0%.
Columbus is one of the highest scoring teams in the league on home ice with 51 goals in 12 games (4.25). However, on the road, offence has been tougher to come by with 35 goals in 13 games (2.69).
The Jackets have plenty of local connections: Port Moody’s Kent Johnson, Coquitlam’s Dante Fabbro and West Vancouver’s Jake Christiansen all play for the team. And former Vancouver Giants head coach Dean Evason is in his first year behind the CBJ bench while former Canuck defenceman Steve McCarthy is one of his assistants.
Both games between these teams last season went to overtime. The Blue Jackets beat the Canucks 4-3 in a shootout in Columbus while Elias Pettersson scored the OT winner in a 5-4 Vancouver victory at home. The teams will meet again on March 28th at Nationwide Arena.
Tonight’s referees: Michael Markovic & Trevor Hanson
Tonight’s broadcasters: John Shorthouse & Dave Tomlinson

What we heard

Rick Tocchet on what having Demko in uniform for the first time means to the group: “He’s a leader on the team, a different type of leader. Just him being around, he’s a glue guy. The guy works awfully hard. He’s spent a lot of time by himself working out. He’s here at 7am working out with a trainer. What’s contagious to me is the hard work he does. The young guys see how dedicated he is and I see that really helps our locker room.”
Jake DeBrusk on looking for his first home ice goal of the season after scoring all 11 so far on the road: “It’s nice to be home. You try to keep similar routines and things like that, but it’s more a mental thing at this point. It will be nice to get the first one out of the way.”
Quinn Hughes what he liked about team’s 4-1-1 road trip: “Just our compete level. How hard we competed. The way we played through adversity. Being down in a couple of those games and I think we’ve just got a lot of guys in here who really care.”
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