The Vancouver Canucks are right back in action on Sunday night after a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Head coach Rick Tocchet liked the way his group responded on Saturday night and he is looking forward to getting on the ice less than 24 hours later as the Canucks host the Nashville Predators at Rogers Arena.
The Preds are in the middle of a five-game road trip and are without a win after three stops. Their most recent game was a 2-0 loss to the Calgary Flames on Friday night.
After a win on Saturday night, the Canucks are now 9-4-3 on the year and have won five of their last seven games. Sunday’s game will be the fifth of their current six-game homestand.
With Artūrs Šilovs getting the start on Saturday, the expectation is that Kevin Lankinen will draw into the crease for Sunday. We will wait for confirmation from Tocchet on Sunday afternoon, so be sure to follow ‘Canucks Insider’ on Twitter and look for Olivia McDonald’s update on Instagram.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- It has been a slow start to the season for the Preds. They went 5-10-3 out of the gate.
- Filip Forsberg leads the Preds with eight goals and 13 points through his opening 18 games. The 30-year-old winger is averaging 18:59 of ice time per game and is playing on Nashville’s top line that has Ryan O’Reilly and Steven Stamkos on it.
- Juuse Saros is still the workhorse of the crease and has made 14 starts this season. He holds a 4-8-2 record with a .915% save percentage and a 2.52 goals-against average.
- Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault are newcomers to the Preds that we did not see last year. Stamkos has four goals and four assists on the year while Marchessault has three goals and six assists.
- Roman Josi is one of six defencemen in the NHL who is averaging over 25 minutes of ice time per game. Josi has one goal and 11 assists through 18 games.
- The Preds are the lowest-scoring team in the league and are averaging 2.28 goals per game.
- With a 92.1% kill-rate, the Preds have the number one ranked penalty kill in the league.
- They are 3-7-1 when the opposition scores the first goal of the game and 2-3-2 when they score first.
The Story: A One-on-One with Jake DeBrusk about Back-to-Backs
We sat down with Jake DeBrusk after the Canucks’ 4-1 win against the Blackhawks on Saturday night. We wanted to ask him some questions about playing in back-to-backs.
Here is our back and forth...
What is important on the night of the first game?
“Try to get a good sleep. Usually, you're wired after games, to be honest with you, especially if it's a bad one. If it's a good one, you actually sleep a little better. I’ve played a lot of them. It's usually what you do at the rink. It's usually your preparation when you're there, see how the body feels and then do the maintenance you need to do.”
How about the beginning of game two?
Honestly, the biggest key is trying not to get stuck in your own zone at the start, trying not to get some icings. You’ve got to manage your game a little bit at the beginning. And then after that, you're just playing hockey. It's one of those things where I'm just trying to get my legs going at their best.”
What is the most difficult thing about back-to-backs?
“The biggest challenge is fatigue. You feel fatigued a little quicker. If you get hemmed in early, you're catching up. The good thing is that we train for short increments, over and over and over again. And it's one of those things where it's about how you manage the puck. If you're turning pucks over or playing a sloppy game and you're not really 100%, you're going to get torched. I’m trying to be conscious of where I put pucks, or where I'm going in my routes. You just have to be detailed.”
How much easier is the second game after a win?
“It is very much easier. But at the same time, sometimes you want to get right back on the horse after a loss too, you know? I’ve always preferred winning. Everyone's happy, everyone's got a postgame cookie or whatever, and everyone's doing their thing, and there's just always a lot of good vibes when you win. But sometimes you can lose, it's good to get back. There's two ways you can look at it, but I prefer a win.”
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
J.T. Miller: 2g-4a-6p
Elias Pettersson: 3g-2a-5p
Quinn Hughes: 1g-4a-5p
Jake DeBrusk: 1g-3a-4p
Erik Brännström: 2g-1a-3p
Pius Suter: 2g-1a-3p
When and Where to Watch
Sunday’s game is a 7:00 p.m. start time and can be watched on Sportsnet or you can listen along with Brendan Batchelor as he has the radio call with Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.
