Canucks Game 73 Preview vs. Blue Jackets: More injuries, another wildcard battle

Columbus Blue Jackets v Vancouver Canucks
Columbus Blue Jackets v Vancouver Canucks | Derek Cain/GettyImages

Playing against their second Eastern Conference wildcard contender in as many games, the Vancovuer Canucks (34-26-12) square off with the Columbus Blue Jackets (32-29-9) at Nationwide Arena at 4 p.m. on Friday evening.

Both clubs are hotly contesting the final wildcard playoff sports in their respective conferences, though the Blue Jackets are only one game out, whereas the Canucks are three games out.

And, as you will note in the lineups below, the Blue Jackets are only getting healthier, while the Canucks are dropping like flies due to illnesses and injuries.

Canucks Game Lineup

Jake DeBrusk - Pius Suter - Brock Boeser

Drew O'Connor - Aatu Raty - Conor Garland

Linus Karlsson - Nils Aman - Jonathan Lekkerimäki

Dakota Joshua - Max Sasson - Kiefer Sherwood

Quinn Hughes - Filip Hronek

Marcus Pettersson - Tyler Myers

Derek Forbort - Victor Mancini

Kevin Lankinen is expected to return as the Canucks' starting goalie against the Blue Jackets on Friday night after missing a few games due to an illness. Lankinen last played for the Canucks on Saturday, allowing four goals on 11 shots in a crushing 5-3 loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Thatcher Demko relieved Lankinen for two games this week, allowing only five goals and earning wins in both.

Blue Jackets Game Lineup

Dmitri Voronkov - Sean Monahan - Kirill Marchenko

Boone Jenner - Adam Fantili - Kent Johnson

Justin Danforth - Cole Sillinger - Mathieu Olivier

Zach Aston-Reese - Sean Kuraly - Luke Kunin

Zach Werenski - Dante Fabbro

Ivan Provorov - Damon Severson

Denton Mateychuk - Erik Gudbranson

Elvis Merzlikins is confirmed to be the Blue Jackets' starting goalie against the Canucks on Friday night.

The Latvian netminder has not been able to recapture the magic he produced in his rookie season in 2019-20, but he is 23-19-5 this season with a 3.03 GAA, a .896 save percentage, and one shutout for a Blue Jackets team surprisingly in the middle of a playoff race.

How to watch the Canucks game

Friday night's Canucks game will be streamed on FanDuel Sports Work Ohio and Sportsnet Pacific. For fans unable to watch the Canucks game, Sportsnet 650 will be the radio broadcast available for your listening.

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