Game Day: Canucks vs. Preds Preview

After concluding a two-game trip with a loss in St. Louis last night, the Nashville Predators have returned home for three-straight outings at Bridgestone Arena starting tonight as the Vancouver Canucks come to town. This evening's contest is the second of three meetings between the Preds and Canucks this season; Nashville took a 3-2 win in Vancouver back in November.
The Preds started 2022 with a five-game win streak, but they've only collected one point in their last three outings, including a 5-3 loss to the Blues less than 24 hours ago. Nashville has been pleased with certain areas of their game, but there are also things they'd like to clean up before hosting the Canucks tonight.

"Just the execution part," Preds forward Filip Forsberg said following Monday's loss. "I think we're putting in the work - obviously it's a division game, and they're a great team and we're putting in the work, I think we just shot ourselves in the foot a little bit early in the second with a couple of decisions that that ended up in the back of our net, and you can't do that against good teams like that. Vancouver tomorrow is going to be a highly skilled, young, fast team, and obviously that's something that we know we can't do against them."
"You've got to take the quick lesson out of the game now," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said last night. "Our rush defense and when we pinch and when we don't pinch has to be better. We gave up too many odd-man rushes, whether it was from some puck play or some decision making, and we've got to clear up those two components. We've got to re-rack and be ready to go tomorrow."
Forsberg did return to the Nashville lineup on Monday - and scored a highlight-reel goal - after missing four games due to a stay on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list. However, defenseman Dante Fabbro was injured during Saturday's game in Boston, and he's now week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Defenseman Mattias Ekholm also missed Monday's game as he remains on the COVID protocol list.
The Predators are not expected to hold a morning skate ahead of tonight's game as they prepare for the second half of a back-to-back set.

The Good Guys:

In addition to Forsberg, Ryan Johansen and Yakov Trenin also tallied in Monday's 5-3 loss, and Juuse Saros made 24 saves in net for Nashville.
Preds Captain Roman Josi (13g-27a) continues to lead the team in scoring as the first Nashville player to hit the 40-point mark this season. He's followed by Matt Duchene (17g-18a) with 35 points, Mikael Granlund (5g-28a) with 33 points and Johansen (11g-20a) with 31 points. Forsberg has 19 goals and 30 points in just 27 games. Goaltender David Rittich is 3-1-1 in six appearances this season.

The Opposition:

The Canucks snapped a three-game skid under new Head Coach Bruce Boudreau with a 4-2 win in Washington on Sunday. J.T. Miller (12g-26a) leads Vancouver with 38 points, followed by Quinn Hughes (2g-28a) with 30 points and Conor Garland (10g-14a) with 24 points. Bo Horvat has 13 goals for Vancouver; Brock Boeser has nine. Thatcher Demko is 16-14-1 in net for the Canucks.

All-Time Meetings:

The Predators are 32-38-(2)-6 all-time against the Canucks, including a 17-15-(1)-6 record at Bridgestone Arena. The Predators are 2-3-0 in their last five games vs. the Canucks; they are 5-5-0 in their last 10; and 3-2-0 in their last five at Bridgestone Arena.

Notables Versus Vancouver:

Ryan Johansen, a Vancouver native, owns 14 points (3g-11a) in 27 career games against his hometown team. He has three points (2g-1a) in his last five games vs. Vancouver. North Vancouver native Colton Sissons has six points (4g-2a) in 15 career games against the Canucks.
Roman Josi is on a four-game point streak (1g-3a) against Vancouver. He also has 13 points (1g-12a) in his last 13 games vs. the Canucks and posted a six-game point streak (7a) against Vancouver from Jan. 10, 2017-Dec. 13, 2018.
Mikael Granlund is producing at nearly a point-per-game pace in his career against the Canucks, recording 22 points (5g-17a) in 24 games. He's on a four-game point streak vs. Vancouver (2g-4a) and established a career-high four points (3g-1a) on Feb. 4, 2017, against the Canucks.

Watch & Listen:

Coverage for tonight's 7 p.m. CT puck drop from Nashville begins at 6:30 p.m. CT with the Predators Live! pregame show on Bally Sports South hosted by Lyndsay Rowley and Terry Crisp. Willy Daunic, Chris Mason and Kara Hammer have the call on the television side, while Pete Weber and Hal Gill will broadcast on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network. Pregame coverage on the radio begins at 6 p.m. with Darren McFarland. For broadcast information and channel locations throughout the country,
click here
.