The Canucks — specifically their fourth line — started this game with some good jump early on. They were quicker to pucks than the Preds were, got in on the forecheck, and did a good job of vacating the defensive zone quickly when Nashville counterattacked.

JT Miller got a golden opportunity to open the scoring when Vinny Desharnais found him with a beautiful stretch pass to send Miller in on a breakaway against Juuse Saros.

Saros made the stop, but the main point here is that Desharnais is hitting teammates with stretch passes. He had a great sequence in overtime against Seattle last night, and his play has certainly improved as of late. But stretch passes like that? I don’t know what’s gotten into Vinny, but I’m liking it.

Speaking of great sequences, the opening period ended in a scoreless tie thanks in part to some spectacular saves from Kevin Lankinen, who seemed to pick up right from where he left off last night in Seattle.

Before the end of the first, we saw some rough stuff, as Dakota Joshua dropped the gloves with Michael McCarron.

This fight really seemed to ignite the Canucks’ bench, as the pace of this game picked up over the final half of the first period. Nice to see Joshua start to look more and more like the player we’ve seen him be before.

In the second, it looked like it took just 13 seconds for Teddy Blueger to open the scoring, but the goal was immediately waved off due to goaltender interference.

On the next shift, Kiefer Sherwood and Dakota Joshua — the two had four hits each after the opening 20 minutes — moved in on a 2-on-1 but Saros got a small piece of Sherwood’s shot. Those two had their A-games early on.

This game was quickly turning into a high-flying goaltending battle, as Lankinen and Saros — former teammates — continued to one-up each other with huge saves for their respective teams.

The Preds got the game’s first power play, and it went very poorly for them. Teddy Blueger and Pius Suter generated an odd-man rush shorthanded, then Phil Di Giuseppe picked the puck off of Jonathan Marchessault and did the same, only this time, he was tripped and drew a penalty to take Nashville off the power play.

That left the Canucks with 45 seconds of power play time, and during that 45 seconds, Kiefer Sherwood nearly opened the scoring against his old team.

Instead, it was Steven Stamkos who score the first goal of this game, as Stamkos labelled a one-timer top shelf on Lankinen.

This was just a great shot. Brisebois’ gap control could maybe have been a bit better on this one, but at the end of the day, a shooter like Stamkos is going to score goals. Especially at Rogers Arena, in the case of Stamkos. 1-0 Preds.

Unfortunately, after the goal from Stamkos, the Canucks’ energy level seemed to fall off a cliff to close out the second period, and they entered the third trailing by a goal. The good news was Dakota Joshua was back on the Canucks’ bench to open the third period after exiting during the second after getting tied up with Roman Josi.

Vinny Desharnais drew a holding call five minutes into the third, marking the Canucks’ first real power play of the game. The Canucks didn’t get many good looks, and when they did have good looks, Saros was ready to shut the door.

Not to be outdone, Kevin Lankinen made a remarkable toe save off of a Luke Evangelista breakaway chance that could have been the dagger in this one.

With 7:15 to go, Evangelista took a high-sticking penalty that put the Canucks back on the power play with a golden opportunity to come back in this game. The first unit was a disappointment, and the second unit wasn’t much better. After putting up zero shots on Saros over that two minutes, the Canucks were running out of time.

With 2:50 remaining, the Canucks called Kevin Lankinen to the bench for an extra attacker. Gus Nyquist scored his first goal in 19 games to push the lead to 2-0. 

The Canucks pulled Lankinen again, and this time, Colton Sissons didn’t miss the empty net.

Some more takeaways from tonight:

-I know the Predators have the fewest wins of any NHL team, but that was a pretty gutsy effort from the Canucks on the second leg of a back-to-back.
-Sherwood had his A-game tonight, but it was maybe his A minus game, because he missed the net a couple of times.
-Speaking of which, I feel like Derek Forbort hasn’t gotten enough love for his play over the last few games without Hughes. The team has asked a lot from Forbort, and he’s done a good job at holding down the fort. Like Brisebois, he plays such a quiet game that it’s hard to notice him sometimes.
-I haven’t stopped liking Max Sasson’s game. Love his comfort level with the puck on his stick, and how can anyone not appreciate his motor?
-Pius Suter got off to such a hot start this season, but it’s now been 13 games without a goal for him. Thought he had a few looks tonight.
-Thought the Canucks’ D corps played well, but they just clearly lack that offensive punch when Hughes is out of the lineup. No real fault of their own, I liked the way the defence played this evening.
-Kevin Lankinen was great, but Juuse Saros was better. That’s the story tonight.
-9 hits for PDG. 6 for Sherwood. 5 for Joshua. 5 for DeBrusk. 51 for the Canucks as a team.
-Need more from Miller and Boeser. Not great at 5v5, and worse on the power play.

Edit: After going back and watching the tape, I don’t think I was hard enough on Miller in this article. He had multiple shifts where he tried to make things happen himself, only to turn the puck over and then sulk as he glided his way to the bench. Boeser was really bad tonight too.

What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below! And be sure to tune into tonight’s edition of Rink Wide Vancouver LIVE over on YouTube! Interact with hosts Jeff Paterson and Irfaan Gaffar while they break down tonight’s game.