Canucks have feasted on East

GAME DAY: COLUMBUS AT VANCOUVER, 7 P.M.

VANCOUVER — The fun is about to come to an end today for the Vancouver Canucks when the Columbus Blue Jackets visit Rogers Arena.

Columbus represents the final Eastern Conference opponent the Canucks will face this regular season. The Canucks have enjoyed themselves immensely against the East, going 12-3-0 at home and 21-9-1 overall.

They have especially frolicked against the Metropolitan Division, of which Columbus is a member, to the tune of 13-2-0. The only Metro teams to take them down are the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils.

The Canucks have swept the Pittsburgh Penguins, shutting them out both times. They have swept the resurgent New York Islanders and the re-born defensively sound Washington Capitals.

They have taken care of business against their old nemesis, the Boston Bruins, and swept them, too. They swept the sad-sack Carolina Hurricanes and took three of four points from the Ottawa Senators, although that was before the Hamburglar, goalie Andrew Hammond, arrived on the scene and began to walk on water.

The only Eastern Conference team the Canucks have been unable to handle are the Tampa Bay Lightning, who beat them 4-2 and 4-1.

In their first meeting with the Blue Jackets this season, the Canucks romped to a 5-0 victory in Columbus. The Jackets, it should be noted, were a Western Conference team for the first 13 years of their franchise life before switching to the East last season.

So what gives? Why are the Canucks so good against the East? Various theories abound, none of them scientific.

It’s very tough to say,” responded goalie Eddie Lack. “I feel like the eastern teams are a little bit up and down, you know. I feel when we play teams like Anaheim, L.A. and San Jose, they’re always going to bring their best game.

“Sometimes it’s a little bit of luck, too, where you get important goals at the right time. Obviously we’ve been feeling a lot better against the Eastern teams than the Western teams.”

The Canucks are 19-16-3 against the West and 12-9-3 within the Pacific Division, which is where their fortunes will lie if they can hang on to their playoff spot. Following Thursday’s game, the Canucks will have 12 games remaining, seven against the Central Division and five against the Pacific.

In Daniel Sedin’s humble opinion, there is a distinct difference in style between the conferences.

“You play against L.A. and Anaheim and San Jose and those kind of teams, and then you play the eastern teams, and I think it’s probably a little bit more back and forth in the Eastern Conference. I mean, you do have teams over there who play really tight, Montreal and other teams, too, but there are probably more teams who play tight in the Western Conference.”

Daniel’s opinion of a more wide-open East is backed up by the individual scoring race. Prior to Wednesday’s slate of games, the east had the league’s top five scorers and eight on the top nine. Vladimir Tarasenko of the St. Louis Blues was the only interloper among the top nine.

The Canucks have been a beast against the East in 2014-15. But, by Friday, they will be done with the other conference unless…

“Unless we make it to the Stanley Cup final,” concluded Lack, grinning playfully.