The Vancouver Canucks roll into Nashville to face the Predators on Wednesday night as they hit the midway point of their three-game road trip through the Central Division.
Monday saw the Canucks pick up a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues as Conor Garland picked up a pair of goals while Quinn Hughes, Tyler Myers, and Pius Suter each had multi-point games.
Now, the Canucks head into Nashville for the first time since they eliminated the Predators in the first round of last year’s playoffs.
Garland scored a pair of goals on Monday and is up to 13 goals on the season – he has added 20 assists to give him 33 points on the season. The 28-year-old has done a good job controlling possessions at five-on-five this season and holds a 53.2% control of expected goals through his 688 minutes of ice time.
He is averaging a career-high 19:22 of ice time per game this season. Garland leads all Canucks’ forward in ice time with 948:52 through 49 games. He is second on the team to Quinn Hughes (1141:18) for ice time in all situations.
The Preds come into Wednesday’s game having won five of their last six games. They will be well-rested, as their last game was Saturday night. Over those six games, they have averaged 4.83 goals per game and have gotten 14 points (7g-7a) from Filip Forsberg.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- The Preds sit seventh in the Central Division with their 18-23-7 record and are 12-8-3 on home ice.
- Forsberg leads the team with 18 goals and 49 points through 48 games played.
- Steven Stamkos leads the Preds with nine power play goals while Ryan O’Reilly and Forsberg come in second with six of their own. Roman Josi leads with 14 power play assists and the Preds’ power play as a whole ranks 14th in the league with their 22.1% conversion percentage.
- The Preds’ penalty kill ranks 6th in the league and is killing off 81.9% of their penalties this season.
- Juuse Saros continues to eat up most of the starts between the pipes. He has started 37 of their 48 games and holds an 11-19-6 record. Saros has a .899% save percentage, a 2.88 goals-against average, and has four shutouts on the year.
- First periods have been good to the Predators at Bridgestone Arena this season, they have outscored their opposition 25-16 in the opening frame of their home games.
- The Preds are 9-1-3 when they take a lead into the first intermission.
The Story: Soucy Speaks
Canucks’ defenceman Carson Soucy spoke to Rinkside Reporter Olivia McDonald following the team’s practice on Tuesday afternoon.
“I liked our start. I thought we defended well and did a good job creating [offence] a little more last night,” said Soucy when asked about what he liked from the Canucks win on Monday. “Moving our feet in the o-zone – attacking seems a little better.”
Soucy said he wants the team to do what is continuing to work for them. He likes the way the team has been generating offence over the past couple of games but knows that this is a group that takes pride in their defence.
Soucy also spoke about the return of Tyler Myers to the lineup.
“He’s a huge part,” said Soucy of Myers. “On and off the ice, he’s just such a great teammate with a lot of experience.”
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
Quinn Hughes: 5g-2a-7p
Brock Boeser: 1g-5a-6p
J.T. Miller: 1g-4a-5p
Tyler Myers: 1g-2a-3p
Filip Hronek: 1g-2a-3p
Pius Suter: 1g-2a-3p
When and Where to Watch
Wednesday’s game is a 6:00 p.m. PT start, and you can watch it on Sportsnet or listen along to the radio call with Brendan Batchelor on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.