Canucks Push Win Streak To Three Games, Win 3–1 Against Nashville

It was an eventful night for the Swedes of the Vancouver Canucks, as the team managed a 3–1 win against the Nashville Predators. Nils Höglander, Linus Karlsson, and Pius Suter contributed to the 3–1 score. On the other side of the ice, Tommy Novak scored for the Predators. Thatcher Demko made the start for Vancouver, saving 31 of 32 shots against, while Juuse Saros stopped 19 of 21. With their third-straight win, Vancouver is now back in a playoff spot.

This was Vancouver’s first visit to Nashville since game 6 of their playoff series against them, in which Suter scored a single goal to send the Canucks to the second round. In tonight’s matchup, Dakota Joshua rejoined the team for his first game since January 3 — a tilt that was also against the Predators. Elias Pettersson (D) came out of the lineup in favour of Noah Juulsen, and Quinn Hughes and Tyler Myers were placed on a pairing with one-another.

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Vancouver was awarded a power play early on, as Steven Stamkos took a holding call less than two minutes into the game. The first unit saw the re-addition of Jake DeBrusk, who joined Hughes, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and J.T. Miller. Despite the change in personnel, Vancouver didn’t score on any of their man-advantages.

Höglander opened the scoring for Vancouver as a line of himself, Pettersson, and Karlsson passed the puck around while advancing up towards Nashville’s zone. Helped along by Hughes, the forward group brought the puck in with ease before Höglander fired home his fourth goal of the season. It didn’t take much longer for Nashville to tie it up, however, as an excellent save by Saros helped the Predators regain their forecheck. Suter was tied up on the backcheck as Novak advanced on Demko, shrugging aside his check to slide the puck into Vancouver’s net.

Fans have seen Pettersson slowly regain his confidence over the past couple of games, as he has been more inclined to take the puck on his own than to keep it along the boards. In the past seven games, he has the second-most shots on goal for the Canucks with 18, but only one goal to show for it. A flash of the old Pettersson was seen late in the first period as he weaved the puck back and forth, flinging Nashville’s Adam Wilsby off of him with some quick dekes.

Karlsson had himself a night, as he helped out on Vancouver’s opening goal despite not registering a point on it. Less than two minutes into the second period, he scored his first NHL goal off a setup from Myers. From his spot at Saros’ backdoor, Karlsson tucked the puck in with ease. The 25-year-old Swede finished the game with 10:32 minutes played and two shots on goal, and saw some second-unit power play time in the third period.

Vancouver has had poor luck keeping all of their defencemen in the lineup this season, as Filip Hronek lost almost eight weeks of play due to injury, Tyler Myers was recently suspended for three games, and even Hughes missed games due to a hand issue that he’s still recovering from. They almost lost another one when Carson Soucy was shaken up after taking a high stick from Cole Smith, retreating to the dressing room nearly halfway through the second period. While his quick departure to the dressing room was alarming, Soucy later returned and finished the game — but not before Canucks Head Coach Rick Tocchet shared some choice words with the referees. Conor Garland was also on the receiving end of an uncalled high-stick, which Tocchet wasn’t happy about either. Both penalty-worthy plays also led into eventual scoring chances for Nashville.

The slew of missed calls on penalties committed against Canucks defencemen didn’t stop in the second period, however, as a lengthy play resulted in Hronek taking a hit behind the net. A stick got up in his ribs, leaving him shaken up. Only seconds after, Derek Forbort was hit in the face with a high-stick. The non-calls for Vancouver came to a head when, during this play, Suter was called for tripping. After a few missed calls, the Canucks were finally awarded their second man-advantage of the night after Michael McCarron was called for tripping.

Demko had a fantastic night, showing shades of his vintage self with a .969 SV% performance. After a third period man-advantage for the Predators he made a big kick-save to keep the game 2–1, and throughout the game, he reacted calmly as Nashville peppered him with in-close shots. This was his first game against the Predators since the 4–2 game 1 victory from the Canucks’ first-round playoff series in 2024. With a minute left in the period and an empty net for Nashville, Demko’s heroics helped seal the team’s third win in a row even with Filip Forsberg climbing all over him.

Facts and Stats:

• Vancouver scores the opening goal of the game for their third straight game

• With two assists, Quinn Hughes registers his 101st multi-point game and 78th multi-assist game

• Linus Karlsson becomes the sixth player to score for both the Vancouver and Abbotsford Canucks this season

• Tyler Myers becomes the 18th defenceman in Canucks history to register 100 assists

Scoring Summary:

1st Period:

7:11 – VAN: Nils Höglander (4) from Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson

8:41 – NSH: Tommy Novak (8) from Zachary L’Heureux and Justin Barron

2nd Period:

1:28 – VAN: Linus Karlsson (1) from Tyler Myers and Quinn Hughes

3rd Period:

19:42 – VAN: Pius Suter (13) (ENG)

Up Next:

Vancouver rounds out their three-game Central division road trip by taking on the Dallas Stars on Friday night. This is their first meeting with the Stars this season, as their last game against Dallas was on March 28, 2024, during which Vancouver lost 3–1. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:00 pm PT.

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