After a long road trip that saw them pick up nine of a possible 12 points, the Vancouver Canucks return home to Rogers Arena and will host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.

The Canucks currently sit with a 13-7-4 record and are looking to keep building their game as the season continues. They are third in the Pacific Division but have a couple of games in hand and are searching for some strong performances on home ice to gain some higher ground in the division.

The Blue Jackets will be on the second night of back-to-back games. They play the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday ahead of their game in Vancouver on Friday. Before their game against the Oilers, the Blue Jackets are 11-10-3 on the season and have a 3-7-2 road record.

Brock Boeser currently sits at 398 career points with the Canucks and just needs a pair to reach the 400 club. Only 14 Canucks have eclipsed 400 points as a Canuck, and Boeser is looking to become the 15th.

Jake DeBrusk went on a scoring spree during the Canucks’ six-game road trip. He scored eight goals over six games and has now brought his season total to 11. DeBrusk leads the team in goals and is up to 20 points in 24 games.

Quick Hits on the Competition

• The Blue Jackets rank 10th in the league at controlling the share of goals at five-on-five. They have scored 60 goals while allowing 52 through 24 games.

• First periods have been their best period by a mile. Columbus has outscored their opposition 28-19 in first periods this year and has been outscored 54-62 in the final 40 minutes of games.

• Defenceman Zach Werenski leads their club in points. He has scored eight goals and added 18 assists to be one of the two point-per-game players on the team.

• Kirill Marchenko leads the team in goals with 10 and is the other point-per-game player on the team – adding 14 assists to his 10 goals to give him 24 points in 24 games.

• Columbus has the 23rd-ranked power play in the league – clicking at 17.7% this season.

• On the penalty kill, they rank 28th with their 72.7% kill rate.

• 21-year-old Cole Sillinger is playing left wing on the second line and is 4th on the Blue Jackets with 15 points.

• Between the pipes, Elvis Merzlikins has been the steady starter and with backup Daniil Tarasov starting Thursday night in Edmonton, Merzlikins is our expected starter for Friday. The Latvian backstop has an 8-6-2 record with a 3.00 goals-against average and an .894% save percentage.

The Story: Back on Home Ice

Head coach Rick Tocchet told his players that they need to, “play uncomfortable” on Friday night. The 4-1-1 road trip is sure to help boost confidence, but the coach wants to see his players carry that confidence onto home ice, and that begins with a strong start.

“We can’t wait for the second period to get going, it’s a mental thing,” said Tocchet.

Tocchet mentioned he may be switching up some of the Canucks’ preparation on home ice. He puts it on himself to make some changes to help shake up the group but also states that the sample size is still small.

The coach doesn’t want to see any bad trends on home ice and gave praise to the group on how they played last season. They will aim to get back to that with a powerful performance on Friday night when Columbus comes to town.

Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games

Quinn Hughes: 2g-8a-10p
Elias Pettersson: 1g-7a-8p
Jake DeBrusk: 6g-1a-7p
Conor Garland: 3g-4a-7p
Pius Suter: 3g-2a-5p

When and Where to Watch

Friday night’s game is a 7 p.m. PT start, and you can watch it on Sportsnet or listen along to the radio call with Brendan Batchelor on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.