Even the staunchest supporter of tanking the rest of the way couldn’t have liked how the past few games went. You could tolerate the Blues, but getting shut out by the Edmonton Oilers and Ondrej Pavelec is worse than being relegated to one of those senior men’s leagues where everyone punches each other for an hour. It’s not hockey that anybody that wants to watch. It’s.. suffering.

Tonight was a vaguely refreshing (but still rough) step away from that. The Canucks put pucks in the back of the net but ultimately lost to 3-2 to the Nashville Predators in a shootout.

The game started off on a high note, as Bo Horvat snapped the longest shutout streak in Canucks history (2 hours, 34 minutes, and 52 seconds) with his 12th goal of the season. It was a pretty one too, as Horvat buried a rebound initiated by a Sven Baertschi takeaway eight minutes into the first period. Less than eight minutes later (a 95% improvement!) we got to witness a bit of Sedinery as Henrik fed Daniel for his 27th of the year. Smooth sailing, right?

Well, not exactly. The Canucks carried the lead into the second and Ryan Miller kept the Preds out of the net well into the third period, but with eight minutes left in the game, James Neal took advantage of a wide open spot in the slot, took a pass from Colin Wilson, and buried it top shelf. A minute later, the Preds crashed the net again, and while Ryan Miller believed he smothered the puck, Filip Forsberg found it, wrapped around the net, and tied the game up.

This sent the contest into overtime, and while Nashville head Vancouver shotless for the whole five minutes, Miller kept them away for long enough to send the game into a shootout. Jared McCann did give the Canucks one more goal, but with Ryan Johansen and Craig Smith both beating Miller, the team in the ugly mustard yellow ended up being the victors.

I don’t even know if it’s the nicest play, but it hey, it’s a Canuck putting the puck in the net. A sight for sore eyes.

A stellar night for Ryan Miller. He picked up 30 saves on 32 shots, and while losing sight on the Forsberg goal is a little iffy, he was far from the reason for the defeat. 

It’s a quick turnaround! With this game behind them, the Canucks go right back to one of the teams that brickwalled them down the stretch. They’ll be taking on the Blues tomorrow night at the Scottrade Center. Can Vancouver make it seven games in a row without a victory? Find out at 5:00 PM!