The set-up: The Vancouver Canucks have struggled to a 16-21-6 mark and the team's 38 points leaves them well out of playoff position at the moment (2nd-lowest point total in the Western Conference). The Canucks fell to 0-2-1 on their current seven-game road trip with Tuesday's 3-1 setback at Washington and will be in Columbus tonight to take on the Blue Jackets, looking for their first road victory since winning in Nashville back on Nov. 30 (0-4-2 run away from home since that triumph). The 25-17-3 Columbus Blue Jackets have 53 points, leaving them four points back of the first-place Washington Caps in the top-heavy Metropolitan Division. Columbus is looking to bounce back after dropping a 3-1 decision at Buffalo on Thursday, after having won two straight and three of four. Columbus has performed well at home of late, capturing four of its last five contests at Nationwide Arena, while going 15-7-0 on home ice this season.

Vancouver: Daniel Sedin has notched two goals and two assists over the first three games of the Canucks' road trip, netting the lone tally against the Capitals to reach double digits in goals (10) for the 16th time in his 17 NHL seasons. Brock Boeser was selected to participate in the All-Star Game later this month in Tampa Bay at the age of 20, becoming the third-youngest Canuck and second rookie in franchise history (Dale Tallon, 1971) to be chosen. Boeser has captured back-to-back NHL Rookie of the Month honors and leads Vancouver - and all league rookies - in points (40), goals (22) and power-play tallies (six). Daniel's brother, Henrik, has just two goals bt leads the team with 27 assists.

Columbus: Artemi Panarin recorded the lone goal in the loss at Buffalo, extending his team scoring lead to 37 points. Alexander Wennberg returned to the lineup Thursday after missing eight games with a back injury. He hadn't played since Dec. 21, when he was kept off the scoresheet at Pittsburgh after collecting two goals and three assists during a four-game point streak. Panarin, who reached the 30-goal plateau while with Chicago in each of his first two NHL seasons, trails Josh Anderson (14) by two for the team lead.

The pick: This marks the Blue Jackets' final game before their five-day break and they'd like to go into it on a positive note after the loss in Buffalo. "We've got to bounce back," Blue Jackets center Pierre-Luc Dubois said. "That's what's fun about back-to-backs. The next day you get to bounce back and play a better game. We've got the break coming up and we want to finish off with a win." Vancouver should play the perfect foil, entering this contest having lost five straight contests overall (0-4-1), last winning on Dec. 28 versus Chicago. The Canucks have allowed four-plus goals in three of their last five games and on the season, the etam's 3.26 GPG average ranks 27th of 31 teams. Make the Over a 10* play.