With a six-game homestand starting Friday versus Columbus, the Vancouver Canucks are hoping they can bring their Road Warrior mentality to Rogers Arena.

The Canucks are coming off a six-game road trip where they picked up 9 out of a possible 12 points to improve their road record to 10-2-1.
When it comes to playing at Rogers Arena, well that鈥檚 a different story.

The Canucks are 3-5-3 on home ice this year but are looking to improve those numbers starting against the Blue Jackets.

鈥淚 look at our home record and there have been pockets of our game that haven鈥檛 been good but there has also been some good stuff. We were a good home team last year, so I think some of it is in our head,鈥� replied Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet when the subject was brought up.

"Maybe some of it is in our preparation. Maybe it鈥檚 on me to adjust some things but I don鈥檛 want to make a big deal about it. Is it a big enough sample size? Yes. But I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 a concern to the point where we are going into a (home) game thinking 'Oh, my God. We better play well, it鈥檚 a home game.' I just want them to play with the identity that we鈥檝e had over the last five or six games and be the same at home."

According to defenseman Tyler Myers, part of that identity is adhering to the team鈥檚 staples and now doing the same at Rogers Arena.

鈥淕uys have been battling hard. I think you look at parts of the road trip, I think we're really starting to dial into our system better than we have all year. I feel like we're connected as five better than we were at the start. We just want to keep building off that. Guys are stepping up and I think we're defending hard as a group. We just want to keep that good feeling moving on,鈥� said Myers.

The more consistent defensive play is something that forward Brock Boeser has noticed as well.

鈥淓arlier in the year we were giving up some goals where we had breakdowns in our system but I feel like we haven't been giving as much lately and we are really playing better defensively. I think we're just trusting our system and bringing our compete level to every game,鈥� said Boeser, who rejoined the team during the road trip in Boston after missing seven games due to a concussion.

While it鈥檚 understandable to see how a team can have a discrepancy between their home and road performance, Jake DeBrusk has been an outlier when it comes to that.

DeBrusk is the team鈥檚 leading goal scorer with 11, yet he hasn鈥檛 scored at Rogers Arena with all of his goals being scored on the road. Trying to explain that quirky stat even leaves DeBrusk searching for answers.

鈥淯sually, I think it's the other way around. But I鈥檝e never had an 11-to-zero. In fairness, I've never had road trips that last longer than a week. It's one of those things where it鈥檚 kind of funny when you're still on the road but I'm looking forward to getting that first one here as quickly as possible,鈥� said DeBrusk.

Despite not having J.T. Miller or Filip Hronek as of late, the Canucks have been able to pick up points for a couple of reasons. 

If there is one thing going for the Canucks, it鈥檚 their depth. Players have either stepped into the lineup or have had their roles elevated with the team not missing a beat. Conor Garland and Pius Sutter have been able to take advantage of more ice time to be even more productive while role players such Arshdeep Bains and Max Sasson have filled in admirably according to Boeser.

鈥淧ius is a guy that you can throw anywhere in the lineup and we've seen that during his time here. He's such a smart player and I think that's what allows him to be great at whatever position he's playing. A lot of different guys have come up and they've done great. They've come in whether it's Sass or Bainsy or whoever, they come into the lineup, compete hard and work hard. It鈥檚 that next-man-up mentality. You鈥檝e got to be ready to go and they鈥檝e shown that they have,鈥� said Boeser. 

The other key element in the team鈥檚 continued success is players sticking to the system.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why you have your base and your system. When things don鈥檛 go well, can you rely on your system? I think the guys have done that. Some times when guys struggle, they play like individuals. I feel that guys that have struggled have stayed within the system and that鈥檚 a good thing,鈥� said Tocchet.
Now Vancouver just has to take all of the aforementioned factors and execute at home.

鈥淲e haven't been the best starting team - even on the road. Sometimes it takes us a little bit to get going. I think we have got to focus on really being ready at the drop of the puck and taking it period-by-period and just making sure that we outwork the other team,鈥� said Boeser.

DeBrusk said there鈥檚 no better time than now to start carrying over the momentum from the road trip.

鈥淥n the road sometimes you may simplify your game a little bit and maybe we have to do that at home. But I think it's one of those things where it's just kind of an anomaly. This team in the past been very good at home. I remember always coming here and it was a hard game. So I'm sure that it will all even itself out by the end of the season - and hopefully sooner than later."

OVERTIME:

* Injured goaltender Thatcher Demko (knee) could make his season debut during the homestand. Demko was a full participant in practice on Thursday and is getting closer to returning. "It's been pretty day-to-day, which is great. We're kind of out of that week-to-week window now. I'm at a point now where I could potentially have a discussion with (Rick Tocchet) and be available to back-up or what have you between now and probably the next three games. I think that's the window we're looking at and (we will) see what each day brings,鈥� Demko told the media on Thursday.

* While Demko has been out, Kevin Lankinen has given the Canucks great goaltending and it hasn鈥檛 gone unnoticed. Lankinen was named to Finland's roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. Lankinen has recorded a 12-3-3 record as Demko鈥檚 replacement with a 2.66 goals against average and a .906 save percentage. Other Canucks that will be part of the event include Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, Quinn Hughes and Tocchet. The tournament will be held from Feb.12 to 20 in Montreal and Boston.

* The Canucks entertain Columbus on Friday. The remainder of the homestand will see Tampa Bay (Dec.8), St. Louis (Dec.10), Florida (Dec.12), Boston (Dec.14) and Colorado (Dec.16) come to Rogers Arena.

Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob 鈥渢he Moj鈥� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.