Canucks Lose to Predators in Western Conference Showdown

Leigh Ramsden lives in Vancouver and is an avid Canucks fan, having been a partial season ticket holder for over 10 years. He's old enough to have witnessed all three Stanley Cup losses, as such, his prime goal is to remove those scars by seeing a Cup brought to Vancouver. Leigh is Fighting For Stanley's (www.fightingforstanley.ca/vancouver) west coast correspondent, and will also blog after all Canuck games for The Nelson Daily.

The Vancouver Canucks continued their grueling six-game road trip on Tuesday night in Nashville, where they faced the stingy Nashville Predators at the Bridgestone Arena.  Nashville’s special teams provided the spark required to down the Canucks by a score of 3-1.

The Canucks entered the game on a roll, sporting a record of 10-0-3 in their last 13 games and coming off strong showings against Toronto and Edmonton.  The Predators, however, played their typical defensive style and were able to neutralize Vancouver’s attack.

After a scoreless first period in which the Canucks held a territorial advantage and generated a number of scoring chances, it was Nashville who opened the scoring when Mike Fisher scored on a power play five minutes into the second period. 

For the bulk of the balance of the middle frame, Vancouver carried the play, able to draw a couple of penalties and dominate the Predators on their power plays.  However, Nashville netminder Pekka Rinne stood tall and denied the Canucks consistently. 

Nashville scored shorthanded at 13:16 of the second, after Fisher made a great play at the blue line, going around Sami Salo, before he flipped a perfect saucer pass to goalscorer Sergei Kostitsyn.

Late in the period, Vancouver’s fourth line went to work and were rewarded with a Dale Weise goal, cutting the Predators lead to one.  After two periods, the Canucks were outshooting the Predators 25-19, and were unlucky to be in the position they were in.

Nashville did a better job of limiting the Canucks’ chances in the third period as they went into lockdown mode.  Still, they were able to control possession at various times in the final period.  At other times, however, Canuck goaltender Roberto Luongo was forced to make some spectacular saves in order to keep his team in the game, most notably on Shea Weber and Brandon Yip, each of whom found themselves in alone. 

The Predators salted the game away at 17:09 of the final stanza when David Legwand took advantage of the Canuck defense, who were overplaying the puck carrier in order to create a turnover, by firing a rolling puck past Luongo.

The game of hockey can be difficult to figure out.  Tonight, I felt the Canucks put one of their better efforts on the ice in recent games, especially through the first 40 minutes – however, due to a combination of bad luck, timely saves, and goalposts, they were unable to capitalize on their puck possession by getting any more than one past Rinne. 

This bad luck reared its head on their first two goals against as well; the Fisher goal was lucky to go in after he fanned on the puck and it took a strange bounce off Luongo’s skate, and the Kostitsyn goal coming shorthanded while Nashville was hemmed into its own end for the majority of the Canucks’ power play.

I saw and heard most of the media after the game tonight commenting that they felt the Canucks didn’t do enough to win.  I can understand that sentiment, however, a couple different bounces at key moments and this game could easily have gone the other way. 

Nine times out of ten, Vancouver wins this game.  It isn’t like they were dominated by Nashville - and for that reason, I’m accepting of this loss.  In an 82 game schedule, there are going to be games the team wins where they don’t deserve it, and others which are completely the opposite.  We’ve recently seen a number of games like the former, and tonight was an example of the latter. 

Sometimes, it’s just how the puck bounces.

GAME OBSERVATIONS

• It’s a rarity that Vancouver’s special teams lose them a game, but that’s what occurred tonight.  They were dominant but couldn’t score on their power plays, and gave up a pivotal shorthanded goal.  They also gave up a goal on the penalty kill.  This won’t happen very often.
• Much will be made of the fact that the Sedins combined for only one shot on net, took two penalties, and were a combined minus-4.  Certainly, this wasn’t their best game – but I think they played well overall and definitely created offense, especially on the two power plays in the second period.
• Speaking of the power play, although it finished 0 for 2, it looked great tonight.  It generated a number of scoring chances, and it was just a bit unlucky not to cash in.
• If Henrik scores on his backhand just before the shorthanded goal, the game would have been tied at one.  Instead, the puck goes the other way and Nashville scores shorthanded.  Or, if David Booth's shot goes in, instead of hitting the post (just after the Preds made it 2-0), the Canucks are right back in the game and it's potentially tied up after two.  My point is that the Canucks were very close to coming out of this game with points.  Hockey's a game of bounes and inches and tonight - they didn't get them.
• New Predator Hal Gill made a great play on the shorthanded goal when he dove and poked the puck forward to Fisher.  Salo made a bad mistake here – he was too tentative on his pinch, and was left in no-man’s land as Fisher skated around him.
• Rinne was stunning for Nashville in net.  He made a number of great saves to keep his team tied, or better, in the first and second periods.
• The third period reminded me of watching an old-school game against the Minnesota Wild.  Nashville can suffocate another team with the best of them.
• Shea Weber had a strong game for the Predators tonight.  He played a ton of minutes and he controls the play when he’s on the ice.
• Late in the second period, Alex Burrows and Weber got into a bit of a battle and were each assessed two minute minors for roughing.  I had a couple problems with these calls – Burrows hits Weber along the bench and gives him a small extra shove in the back.  Weber turns around and clocks Burrows with a gloved fist – this should have drawn a penalty.  When it didn’t, Burrows gives Weber a cross-check and they then engage and grab each other.  When falling down, Weber slams Burrows’ head into the ice, or attempted to.  The offsetting penalties didn’t surprise me, I just didn’t think it was the right call.
• Weber also got away with one earlier in the second when he interfered with Booth, knocking him headfirst into the crossbar and cutting him.  When you are a Norris-trophy calibre defenseman with a physical edge, more often than not you’ll get the benefit of the calls.  Pronger has gotten away with it his entire career, and Weber, while not nearly as dirty, seems to get away with a lot as well.  He’d sure look good in a Canucks jersey.
• The officiating tonight left a lot to be desired.  There were a number of curious non-calls, especially in the third.  The worst, however, was after Burrows and Weber went off with their offsetting minors late in the second, and the referees failed to realize both teams still had five skaters on the ice.  It’s absolutely flabbergasting to me that an error like this could be made.  It will undoubtedly go unnoticed and unpunished by the league.
• Once again the Canucks' fourth line had a strong game in limited icetime.  I really hope that Coach Alain Vigneault rolls the four lines more consistently.  Dale Weise has played well since drawing back into the lineup while Byron Bitz rests his hip.
• The Hodgson-Higgins-Hansen line had a good first period but disappeared somewhat thereafter.
• The Canucks haven’t lost in regulation since January 15, so they were due.  I’m hopeful it will give the team extra motivation on Thursday night.

PARTING SHOTS

Broadcast Observation of the Day:  As I’ve mentioned before, I enjoy watching games from Nashville as their fans are clearly engaged in the game and create a good atmosphere.  That said – this ridiculous practice of blowing pseudo-train whistles when Jordin Tootoo is on the ice is completely annoying and needs to stop.

While I noticed it watching the teams line up for the faceoff (it was obvious just due to the way the Canucks were lined up), good on Shorthouse for noticing that the teams were five aside after the offsetting minors. 

Bad on Shorthouse for calling this a “clerical error” when the teams returned for the third period.  I fail to see how this can be acceptable in the top league in the world, and in my opinion, the announcers should just be all over this and make a bigger deal out of this kind of ineptitude.

Looking ahead: Vancouver practices tomorrow in Nashville before flying to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Thursday night.  The Canucks have a golden opportunity to break the Red Wings’ record home winning streak, currently standing at 23 games.