The Nashville Predators make their first stop of a four-game road trip through western Canada when they play the Vancouver Canucks tonight. The Canucks have been a bit of a sideshow lately, and have only won three of their last 10 games. Nashville has a chance to use momentum of some new players to stock up some points tonight, tomorrow and Sunday before going into a red-hot barn in Manitoba next week.
The Stats
| Nashville Predators | Vancouver Canucks | |||
| Record | 22-22-7 | 23rd | 26-16-9 | 14th |
| GF/Game | 2.43 | 24th | 2.47 | 21st |
| GA/Game | 2.88 | 20th | 2.39 | 6th |
| 5-on-5 Close SF/60 | 29.7 | 14th | 31.1 | 9th |
| 5-on-5 Close SA/60 | 27.9 | 9th | 28.2 | 11th |
| Fenwick Close | 49.50 | 17th | 52.30 | 9th |
| 5-on-5 Close Save % | .907 | 28th | .930 | 7th |
| 5-on-4 GF/60 | 6.9 | 8th | 4.5 | 26th |
| # of PP’s/Gm | 3.08 | 27th | 3.20 | 23rd |
| 4-on-5 GA/60 | 6.7 | 18th | 3.9 | 2nd |
| # of PK’s/Gm | 3.00 | 4th | 3.33 | 18th |
The Vancouver Canucks
More on tonight’s opponent
More on tonight’s opponent
Though they’ve won their last two games, not many people have been paying attention to the actual hockey the Canucks have been playing recently. Games against Los Angeles and Anaheim have padded the penalty minutes for Vancouver, including two seven-minute 5-on-3 penalty kills in each game. Then there was the embarrassing debacle in Calgary, that cost head coach John Tortorella 15 days and six games without pay. Yeesh.
For those that have been paying attention to hockey, a memorial service was held for Henrik Sedin’s Iron-Man streak was snapped on Tuesday, as the twin sat out the game against Edmonton. He had played 679 consecutive games. Roberto Luongo stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced for the win.
Vancouver is still hanging to to the first Wild Card spot, but Minnesota is only two points behind them.
The Nashville Predators
Huge news came from the Predators yesterday: Taylor Beck was recalled from Milwaukee. Just kidding. While that is good news to hear the kid getting another shot with the big club, the tidbit of Michael Del Zotto coming to Nashville in exchange for Kevin Klein stole the show.
All eyes will be on the new blueliner as he hopes to make an impression with his new club. It’s no secret Del Zotto fell out of favor with his coaches in New York, but it’s possible a change of scenery is exactly what the 23-year-old needs. He’ll be motivated to play for a new contract, after all.
Will we see Devan Dubnyk in net tonight? It’s very possible, but Carter Hutton is trying his best to stay in the crease for as long as he can. We’ll keep you updated with the latest.
I hope you guys like staying up late, because this has a pacific start time of 9:00 p.m. CST on FS-TN. Pajamas welcome.
