The Nashville Predators, after a disheartening last-minute loss to the Minnesota Wild, have a chance to entertain their fans again tonight against the Vancouver Canucks.
Nashville has been shuffling players around this weekend, putting Mark Jankowski on waivers, so it’s possible someone is close to returning tonight. It’s not currently expected to be Forsberg, but it’s possible we might see Alexandre Carrier or even Mark Borowiecki return.
The Canucks have had a rough season, plagued by player injuries, disappointing on-ice play, and general mismanagement. Bo Horvat, one of their best forwards, has already been traded. Star defender Quinn Hughes blamed the team for Tanner Pearson’s season-ending injury, and nearly every Canucks-related news story strongly implies that Vancouver hockey fans have reason to not be doing okay.
That said, the Canucks still have some firepower. Hughes and Elias Pettersson are an extremely talented pair to build around. Pettersson has managed 77 points (27G/44A) despite the team around him and while dragging the puck up-ice almost singlehandedly, and Hughes has put together a 52-point season (47 of them assists) while not being terrible at the possession game. Other top scorers include J.T. Miller (19-32–51) and Andrei Kuzmenko (24-24–48).
In many respects, the Canucks have struggled. Their offense isn’t great, their defense is bad both at even strength and on the penalty kill, and their goaltending has been terrible. Thatcher Demko has been injured since December, leaving Arturs Silovs (sv% .891) and Collin Delia (sv% .878) carrying the load.
However, it’s worth noting that they have a good power play and some skilled and lucky shooters on the team. If the Preds can scrape up the goals for it, this could easily turn into a 6-5 kind of game.
How to Watch
The game airs at 7PM Central/8PM Eastern on Bally Sports South and 102.5 The Game.