Columbus Game day

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The series

The Blue Jackets are 13-19-7 all-time against the Canucks, including 7-8-4 in Nationwide Arena. This is the fourth and final meeting of the season. The Jackets are 0-1-2 in the first three games.
The setup

The Blue Jackets are 2-5-7 in their past 14 games and now must face the league's best team, which is riding a seven-game road winning streak. The Canucks have the league's best all-around special teams among their many assets. Daniel Sedin, the NHL's leading scorer, could keep the Hart Trophy in the Sedin family.
Vancouver Canucks at a glance

? Past 10 games: 9-1-0

? Power play: 24.9 percent (first, NHL)

? Penalty kill: 86.0 percent (second)

? Player to watch: C Ryan Kesler, an Ohio State product, is fourth in the league with 36 goals.

? Injury update: RW Mikael Samuelsson (lower body), LW Tanner Glass (ribs) doubtful; C Manny Malhotra (eye), D Andrew Alberts (broken wrist), D Alex Edler (back surgery), D Lee Sweatt (broken foot) out.
Columbus Blue Jackets at a glance

? Past 10 games: 2-4-4

? Power play: 14.2 percent (28th, NHL)

? Penalty kill: 81.2 percent (20th)

? Player to watch: RW Matt Calvert enjoyed a torrid start but has managed only one goal and one assist in his past 13 games.

? Injury update: D Anton Stralman (knee) questionable; D Grant Clitsome (knee), LW Ethan Moreau (foot), LW Kristian Huselius (hip/groin), RW Andrew Murray (lower body), RW Chris Clark (lower body) out.

 

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No morning skate today, but I set aside some left over notes as we count down to Blue Jackets and Canucks at 5 p.m. in Nationwide Arena.

The Canucks lead the NHL in many categories, including goals against average at 2.25. Both starter Roberto Luongo and backup Cory Schneider are having excellent seasons. Each netminder points to the addition of goaltender coach Rollie Melanson. Unlike Dave Rook and many other goalie coaches around the league, Melanson works full time with the club.

It will be interesting to see if Jackets general manager Scott Howson and others around the league decide to follow the Vancouver model. Yes, it's a full-time coach for only two players, but they are pretty valuable parts.

(Update) Coach Scott Arniel is intrigued by the thought. He said he's spoken to Howson about the idea, but there's no plan at this time.


-- The Jackets supplied one of their best efforts of the season the last time these teams met on March 1, a 2-1 shootout loss in Vancouver. The Jackets were the better team for 50-plus minutes and Luongo was sensational that night.

"We made sure we did the right thing with the puck and made sure we didn't get in a wide-open game against them," coach Scott Arniel said. " . . . In that game, we spent more time in their end of the rink and peppered Luongo and we got them on their heels a little bit."

Of course, the Jackets were fighting for a playoff spot at the time. As Arniel said earlier this week, "hope is a precious thing." As media and fans, we like to think players should compete the same way regardless of the standings. But what's happening here -- the Jackets are 2-4-4 in their last 10 games -- is also happening in Minnesota and New Jersey. Remember how hard-charging the Devils were only a week ago? They are 4-5-1 in the last 10 games. They too have lost that extra incentive. It's no excuse for shoddy play, but believing the playoffs are still possible is a powerful carrot to dangle.

-- Hope to find out pre-game if Anton Stralman (knee) is ready to return to the lineup. (Update: Stralman will not play today, Arniel said.)

-- (Updated: left wing Kristian Huselius (hip/groin) will return to practice full time on Monday, Arniel said. The Swede hasn't played since Feb. 18.)

-- The Jackets are 0-of-25 in the last eight games and 0-of-28 in the last eight-plus games. "We've (not in) sync and we've lost our shot-first mentality where it kind of created those other chances . . . We've got to get back to working hard and shooting pucks again.

Of course, the Jackets power-play has been bad for years. They reached the playoffs in 2009 with the league's worst power play. Will this finally be the offseason when the Jackets are able to acquire a legitimate power-play quarterback?

-- Former Jacket Raffi Torres is back in town again tonight. He's been tough on his former team this season. He scored twice in the Canucks' 7-3 rout on Dec. 23 and ended the eight-round March 1 shootout with a wrist shot. Torres has 14 goals and 14 assists playing on a third line with the Canucks and hopes to be a valuable playoff contributor unlike a season ago.

After scoring 19 goals with the Jackets last season, the wide-bodied winger went goalless in 14 regular-season and four playoff games. He was a healthy scratch in Boston's series-clinching win over the Sabres.

Torres waited a long time last summer to sign a 1-year, $1 million deal with the Canucks. His summer of uncertainty and questions about his approach to the game on and off the ice served as motivation, the 30-year-old Torres said. He spent ample time training with the likes of Rick Nash and Mike Cammalleri, he said.

"The new NHL is a young NHL and a lot of the teams are going with the young guys, not giving as many chances for the older guys" he said. "I've got to know that. But at the end of the day it was a great summer working out and I knew I would be ready to go. I felt great. I just needed a chance.

"Without a doubt, I appreciate every day. I want to do this for another three or four years if I can. When you are on the outs looking in you miss all the little things . . . That extra half-hour in the gym or that extra bike ride when you don't want to do it (is important). People say it starts in the gym and that's true."

Torres was not among the Jackets leadership group, but he's becoming a vocal presence in the Canucks dressing room, he said. The Canucks give him an opportunity to reach the Stanley Cup final for a second time in his career. He made with the Oilers in 2006.

"I don't want to toot my horn, but this is the most verbal I've been in the room in a long time," Torres said. "I've learned from some pretty good players how to say the right things."

 

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Schneider gets start as Vancouver looks for season sweep against Blue Jackets