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The Nashville Predators have a chance to salvage something significant out of their current 1-3-0 road trip tonight in Vancouver (9:00 p.m. Central on FS-TN), where the Canucks present a daunting challenge. After stumbling out of the gate, Vancouver has looked much more like last year's Presidents Trophy winner in recent weeks, so the Predators will need to bring a solid team effort if they hope to steal a point or two out of this one.
The big news in Vancouver, however, is the return of Mason Raymond to the lineup...
Tale Of The Tape
| Nashville (11-9-4) at Vancouver (14-9-1) | |||||||
| NSH Offense vs. VAN Defense | VAN Offense vs. NSH Defense | ||||||
| 5-on-5 | |||||||
| GF/60 | SF/60 | Shoot % | GA/60 | SA/60 | Save % | ||
| NSH Offense | 2.2 (22nd) | 25.5 (27th) | 8.6 (12th) | 2.2 (9th) | 31.8 (29th) | 929 (8th) | NSH Defense |
| VAN Defense | 2.3 (10th) | 29.0 (12th) | 919 (15th) | 2.6 (9th) | 31.2 (8th) | 8.2 (14th) | VAN Offense |
| GA/60 | SA/60 | Save % | GF/60 | SF/60 | Shoot % | ||
| Special Teams | |||||||
| NSH PP vs. VAN PK | VAN PP vs. NSH PK | ||||||
| GF/60 | SF/60 | Shoot % | GA/60 | SA/60 | Save % | ||
| NSH 5-on-4 | 5.2 (19th) | 48.0 (15th) | 10.9 (19th) | 5.6 (15th) | 55.1 (26th) | 898 (11th) | NSH 4-on-5 |
| VAN 4-on-5 | 4.6 (6th) | 55.2 (27th) | 917 (4th) | 9.1 (1st) | 62.4 (2nd) | 14.7 (6th) | VAN 5-on-4 |
| GA/60 | SA/60 | Save % | GF/60 | SF/60 | Shoot % | ||
*gulp*
The Canucks are a superior 5-on-5 team, and boast a terrifying power play. Nashville needs to stay out of the box, hope for a low-scoring game, and make the most of the opportunities they get.
Vancouver Canucks
Tonight, the Canucks welcome back Mason Raymond into the lineup, the speedy forward who broke vertebrae in his back on an awkward hit during the Stanley Cup Final against Boston:
It's been a long road back for Raymond, and now he adds even more depth to a stacked lineup. Per Nucks Misconduct, here's what the lines may look like:
FORWARDS
Burrows-H. Sedin-D. Sedin
Higgins-Kesler-Raymond
Booth-Hodgson-Hansen
Volpatti-Malhotra-Lapierre
DEFENCE
Hamhuis-Bieksa
Edler-Salo
Alberts-Ballard
In goal, it's already been announced that Cory Schneider gets the nod tonight, as the continuing drama around Roberto Luongo continues. Can you imagine that? A team signing a goalie to a huge long-term contract, then facing a conundrum when a young goalie also develops and performs well?
The Canucks are riding a 5-game winning streak into this game, after having struggled early in the season. That was likely due to the fact that head coach Alain Vignault rested his veterans as much as possible during the preseason, in order to give them a little more recovery time after their long playoff run.
Nashville Predators
The only lineup change I'd expect to see for the Preds is whether or not Kyle Wilson gets in the lineup at the expense of Brian McGrattan, since the Canucks don't really play the enforcer game.
UPDATE: The word now is that Sergei Kostitsyn is out for tonight's game, so scratch that idea!
With so many forwards riding cold streaks offensively, might Barry Trotz completely blow up the lines tonight? I'm a big fan of occasionally doing so even under better circumstances, as players can sometimes slip into some bad habits when they get used to a linemate always doing something a particular way. When you're playing alongside new guys, it forces players to remember the basics and focus on the game plan.
No matter what, Nashville will need a strong effort out of the man in goal tonight to avoid a 5-1 thumping like the one they took on their last visit to Vancouver, but that's the least of my worries. As we recall from the playoffs, he knows how to put on a show in Vancouver as well as anyone...
