Canucks crack into a six-pack away from home

Nashville (Tuesday, 5 p.m., SNP, TSN 1040 AM)

Season series: Jan. 10: Vancouver 1 at Nashville 2 (OT); Jan 17: Nashville 0 at Vancouver 1.

The skinny: The Canucks’ forecheck better be in check. Puckmoving defenceman Roman Josi, who missed nine games with a concussion, returned Saturday. And along with P.K. Subban, who was still nursing a back problem when Henrik Sedin scored the lone goal on Jan. 17 at Rogers Arena, the double danger from the back end will test team structure. Josi was fourth in scoring among NHL defencemen last season with 61 points (14 G, 47 A). Centre Mike Ribeiro and his four goals in 46 games cleared waivers Saturday.

Columbus (Thursday, 4 p.m. SNP, TSN 1040 AM)

Season series: Dec. 18: Columbus 4 at Vancouver 3 (OT ).

The skinny: Seth Jones, 22, already has nine goals and the budding defenceman could have had a hat trick Jan. 31, but ran out of time for an empty-netter. Rookie blue-liner Zach Werenski, 19, was fading at the all-star break and losing Calder Trophy love, but has 31 points (eight goals, 23 assists) and is on pace for 50 points. That would come close to a team defenceman mark set by James Wisniewski, who had 51 points in 2013-14. What does this all mean? Not much. A recent 5-70 funk had John Tortorella calling out his club.

Boston (Saturday, 10 a.m., SN, TSN 1040 AM)

Season series: First of two meetings. Bruins in Vancouver March 13.

The skinny: The big buzz in Beantown is Tuukka Rask is burning out and needs a backup in the worst possible way. Three backups — Anton Khudobin, Zane McIntyre and Malcolm Subban — have combined for a 1-10-2 record and Rask has already racked up 44 games. “We’re not blind to the matter,” Bruins coach Claude Julien told reporters.“We have to get in the best (standings) position possible, but we’d also like to get Rask less games.”That will probably make the Bs active on the backup goalie trade front.

Buffalo (Sunday, 4:30 p.m. SNP, TSN 1040 AM)

Season series: Oct: 20: Buffalo 1 at Vancouver 2.

The skinny: Remember the buzz in November that the Canucks and Sabres had reportedly talked about a swap for mercurial winger Evander Kane, but Vancouver walked away from a stiff asking price? Kane hasn’t exactly become the toast of the town after needing 13 games to score his first goal, but the wayward winger had 14 goals in his first 40 games as of Sunday — 13 at even strength.

Pittsburgh (Feb. 14, 4 p.m., SN, TSN 1040 AM)

Season series: First meeting. Penguins in Vancouver March 11.

The skinny: Sidney Crosby, 29, needs three points to hit the 1,000-point plateau. The Pens captain has played just 752 games and has a 1.326 points-per-game total. That’s fifth behind Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Bobby Orr. Teams in that era averaged nearly four goals a game. Today it’s 2.75.

St. Louis (Feb. 16, 5 p.m., SN/SN360, TSN 1040 AM)

Season series: Oct. 18: St. Louis 1 at Vancouver 2.

The skinny: Mike Yeo took over for fired Ken Hitchcock and won in his Feb. 2 debut, a 5-1 decision over Toronto in which there was a noticeable increased awareness and energy level.