Nashville Predators vs Vancouver Canucks Post Game Recap: Preying On The Predators
By Cole Marton
5 years agoThe Rundown
The Vancouver Canucks have struggled the past month and a bit… The team came into tonight’s game against the Western Conference’s best team, the Nashville Predators, with 1 win in their last 13 games.
Nikolay Goldobin saw his name inserted back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch a couple of nights ago, and Derrick Pouliot would sub in for Michael Del Zotto after he had sat out the past 5 games. The Canucks needed both special teams unit to succeed if they wanted any chance to get their first win in what seemed like eons.
1st Period
The Canucks had a great first 5 minutes of the hockey game and saw their new look scoring lines get a couple of great chances early. The line of Jake Virtanen, Bo Horvat, and Goldobin saw Virtanen fire a puck that was snagged by Rinne with the glove just 30 seconds into the game.
The Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, and Josh Leivo line followed with a strong shift of their own, which nearly concluded with a tap-in goal from Boeser after a beautiful set up from the Swedish superstar.
It took until 6:30 minutes into the game before Jakob Markstrom faced his first real test of the hockey game off a shot from Ryan Hartman, but Markstrom thwarted the chance with a nice pad stop. A minute later, and Troy Stecher was taken down in his own zone by Predators forward Austin Watson, so the Canucks power-play went to work.
The Canucks power-play came into tonight 0 for 12 on the homestand, with only 1 goal scored in their last 19 chances. Wouldn’t take too long before the Canucks made it 2 for 20. Alex Edler unleashed a one-timer that got through everyone to make it 1-0 Vancouver. Fun fact, it was the 4th straight game in which the Canucks scored first… The unfortunate fact, the Canucks lost all 3 of the prior games they scored first. A trend the boys looked to buck tonight.
The best team in the west didn’t relent, and they pressured the Canucks after the goal. 9:30 minutes in, their pressure turned into a power-play when Edler was called for a slash, and the Canucks penalty kill would need to follow suit of their power-play.
The Canucks penalty kill didn’t stop the Minnesota Wild a few nights ago, but were able to pass their first test this evening. A great pad stop by Markstrom highlighted the penalty kill, and the Predators couldn’t tie the game up with the man advantage.
14 minutes in, and Markstrom was tasked with another tough save. This one off the stick of Ryan Johansen, but Markstrom flashed the glove to snag the puck out of the air.
From the 14: 30-minute mark to the 17: 00-minute mark, the Canucks had 3 grade A scoring chances.
14:30 minutes in, and Jake Virtanen and Bo Horvat came down on a 2 on 1. Virtanen elected to shoot, but Rinne made a great glove save to keep the game 1-0.
16 min in, and this time it was Pettersson and Boeser on a 2 on 1. Pettersson slid the puck across to Boeser, and his one-time shot was kept out after a save of the week, and maybe save of the year candidate by Rinne…
17:30 minutes in, and Virtanen tried to feed Horvat across the ice, but Horvat couldn’t beat the Nashville netminder. A phenomenal sequence from Vancouver as the teams approached the end of the first period.
With 26 seconds to go in the period, the Canucks built on their lead. Horvat chipped the puck up to Virtanen to start the play. Virtanen came down the left wing, and then fed Horvat for the second time in a few minutes. This time, Rinne watched helplessly as Horvat picked the top corner to make it 2-0 Vancouver, and that was how the period ended. A fantastic start for Vancouver, and one the team tried to build upon for the rest of the game.
2nd Period
The Canucks started the middle frame like they started the first, with a lot of hustle and heart. 2 minutes in they received their 2nd power-play of the game after Calle Jarnkruk struck Eriksson up high with his stick.
The Canucks couldn’t get a second power-play goal but it didn’t lack chances. A Boeser blast was kept out by the stick of Rinne. The next 4 minutes were pretty lackluster, as both teams felt each other out.
The Predators appeared to get one back around the 7: 30-minute mark of the period when Hartman tipped a shot past Markstrom. It looked to have been knocked in with a high stick so the officials turned to video review. After the review, the Predators were awarded the goal and it was 2-1 Vancouver. A brutal call by the officials in my book, but the Canucks couldn’t afford to let this disrupt how well they were playing.
Thankfully, they didn’t. It only took a minute and a half for the Canucks to respond. Horvat created another rush with a great stretch pass to Antoine Roussel, and he made a solid pass over to Virtanen who buried the one-timer. #shotgunjake made it 3-1 Vancouver.
Another quiet stretch of play followed the Virtanen goal, as these two teams battled hard for the next 5 minutes. Roussel nearly had a breakaway opportunity but watched as the puck rolled off his stick as he attempted to make a move to his forehand.
17 minutes into the period and Markstrom made a great stop to keep the Canucks up by 2. He stoned Colton Scissons on a breakaway, then made 2 quality stops on Grimaldi a minute later.
Those 2 stops were huge, as 19 minutes into the period Pettersson was taken down on a breakaway by Mattias Ekholm. Pettersson was awarded a penalty shot, and what followed… well, needless to say, it was quite pretty.
The Pettersson tally made it 4-1 Vancouver, and they were awarded another power-play late in the frame when Ekholm tripped up Tyler Motte. The Canucks couldn’t score on the first 40 seconds of their man-advantage and headed to the 3rd period up by 3, and their best chance to win a hockey game in a long time.
3rd Period
Canucks started the final frame with 1:20 left on their power-play from the previous period and got right to work. The boys fired numerous shots onto Jussi Saros, who entered into the game in relief of Rinne after Rinne allowed 4 goals for the first time this season. 1:21 into the period, and right as the Predators penalty expired, Loui Eriksson picked up the rebound in front and put it over the shoulder of Saros for his first point in 11 games, and extended the Canucks lead to 4. 5-1 Vancouver.
The Predators decided to turn up the pressure and dominated the Canucks for the next few minutes. The pressure turned into their 2nd goal, as Colton Scissons fired home a rebound into an open cage to make it 5-2 5 minutes into the 3rd.
8:30 minutes in, and Markstrom stood tall again! He made the first stop on a shot from the boards, then slid across to deny Bonino on the rebound attempt to keep the Canucks up by 3.
Next 8 minutes were slow as the Canucks ground out the period strong, and didn’t allow Nashville any quality chances to get back into the game.
Markstrom was strong in this game, but with 1:23 to go the Predators made it a 2 goal game. A Matt Irwin point shot deflected off a couple of objects, which included Eriksson, Predators forward Miikka Salomaki, and Markstrom’s blocker. After all the bounces, the puck slowly trickled past the Canucks goaltender and it was 5-3 Vancouver.
The Predators pulled Saros in an attempt to claw themselves back into the game, but couldn’t get another goal. For only the 2nd time in 14 games, the Canucks won a hockey game. They defeated the Nashville Predators by a score of 5-3.
Advanced Stats
Both photos courtesy of naturalstattrick.com
Wrap Up
Man, it felt good to watch this game. A great effort from the boys in the first 2 periods, and although the 3rd wasn’t pretty, they gutted one out in front of their home crowd. A couple of players really stood out tonight in the win.
Jake Virtanen was a monster and could’ve had more than just the 2 points on the scoresheet. He was robbed on a number of occasions before his first goal, and I thought he could’ve had 2 or 3 tonight. Fans waited patiently to shotgun another beer, or whatever beverage they could get their hands on, and they were treated tonight.
Bo Horvat was also a bull tonight. The leader of this team put in a marvelous effort tonight to help lead the boys to a win. He made some great plays on a few of the Canucks goals and was excellent defensively all night. Great game for the future captain (please make him the future captain).
Someone whose name I heard a lot on the broadcast tonight was Adam Gaudette. Gaudette was given a lot of ice time in the 3rd period and was effective in creating chances. He earned the trust of head coach Travis Green to play in the 3rd, and I thought he looked good.
Elias Pettersson looked like himself tonight, which means he was superb. That move on the penalty shot was disgusting (in the best way possible), and his hand-eye was critical in the set up that led to the Edler PP goal. He produced, and the Canucks won. Pretty simple stuff.
A big win for the boys tonight in a game they desperately needed. Everyone on the team contributed to the win tonight and it was the best they’ve looked in a long, long time. Can happily say that tonight, this didn’t look like a team on a 4 game losing streak, and only 1 win in their last 13. Good game Canucks, the city needed this.
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