| PREDATORS |
CANUCKS | ||||
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AT |
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| Time | Wed. 7:00 PM PST |
TV | Sportsnet Pacific |
| Season Series | 09/10: 2-2 |
Last Meeting |
4-2 Canucks (Mar. 07/10) |
| The Enemy | On The Forecheck | Scoring Leaders |
D. Sedin: 27-36-63 Weber: 8-21-29 |
| Predators |
Category | Canucks |
| 27-16-6 | Season Record | 30-10-9 |
| 4th |
Conference Position | 1st |
| Lost 1 |
Streak | Won 1 |
| 16-12-1 |
< Road Record / Home Record > |
16-3-5 |
| 7-3-0 |
Last 10 | 4-2-4 |
| +16 |
Goals For / Against +/- | +43 |
| 2.59 (23) |
Goals Per Game | 3.29 (3) |
| 2.35 (3) |
Goals Against Per Game | 2.35 (4) |
| 1.16 (6) |
5 On 5 GF/GA | 1.32 (3) |
| 14.2 (27) |
Power Play % |
23.9 (3) |
| 84.9 (5) |
Penalty Kill % |
83.9 (8) |
| 28.6 (25) |
Shots Per Game | 32.5 (6) |
| 30.2 (16) |
Shots Against Per Game | 30.6 (19) |
| 75.0 (10) |
Winning % When Scoring First | 78.1 (7) |
| 68.2 (24) |
Winning % When Leading After 1 | 91.3 (5) |
| 83.3 (21) |
Winning % When Leading After 2 | 88.5 (17) |
| 50.2 (14) |
Faceoffs % | 55.9 (1) |
| 9.1 (3) |
PIM's Per Game Average |
11.9 (11) |
| NHL.com |
OK, so right off the hop the biggest storyline for this game is Dan Hamhuis playing against his former team for the first time. The Canucks will play the Preds 3 more times after the All Star Break (which is a 5-day rest for the Nucks, by the way). Nashville drafted Hammer in the first round, 12th overall in 2001. He played 6 seasons with the Predators, missing only a handful of games in the process. Hammer was active in the Nashville community and enjoyed his time there immensely. But a move closer to home was in the cards.
Coming in at #2: Shane O'Brien's return to Vancouver!!! Woo?? No not really. I don't miss the guy one bit.
As for the game, odds are, judging by the Preds' defensive stats above, that this game could be a close one. The Preds are not getting superb scoring stats from their forwards but play a tight defensive style to make up for it. I enjoy watching a strict defensive team play against the high-flying Canucks, only if Van can overpower the team with its smothering offensive abilities.
It's the last game before the break. Let's see if our Canucks go out with a BANG and don't go down like the Titanic.
-Whoa, the Preds have played 20 home games and 29 road games so far this season. This will be the 6th straight road game they have played. They have achieved a 3-2 record on this trip.
-Nashville, despite their recent success, has several key injuries. See below.
-Last season, as mentioned above, the Canucks and Predators each won 2 games. The teams took turns with the victories. W-L-W-L. The Canucks won the last game. It's a strange inconsistent history we have against Nashville. But the games are always entertaining.
-BTW the Canucks are in a 4-way tie for most overtime/shootout losses this season with 9. I don't hear any Canucks fans (including myself) griping about that right now. Last couple years was a different story.
LINKS
-YOU NEED TO READ THIS: The Story That Isn't: Shea Weber, Contract Negotiations, And Canadian Media. (On The Forecheck). For right or wrong, Ed Willes gets hacked. I don't care about Willes. I know that Nashville drafts like $$$ and gets great coaching from Barry Trotz, one of the longest current-serving coaches in the NHL. But if your owners are not fronting the cash to spend to the upper cap limit you are limiting your chances to win the Stanley Cup, barring a Cinderella run, more or less.
-More importantly, some Tanev love.
WHO'S HOT / COLD
CANUCKS
HOT
-Daniel Sedin: 9 goals and 10 assists in his last 15 games.
-Ryan Kesler: 8 goals and 5 assists in his last 12.
-Henrik Sedin: 2 goals and 3 assists in his last 3.
-Alexander Edler: 3 goals and 2 assists in his last 4.
How appropriate! (H/T JJ Canuck)
COLD
-Manny Malhotra: 0 points in his last 13 games.
-Jeff Tambellini: 1 assist in his last 14.
-Raffi Torres: 1 assist in his last 7.
PREDATORS
HOT
-J.P. Dumont: 5 goals and 1 assist in his last 4 games.
-Cody Franson: 1 goal and 3 assists in his last 3.
-David Legwand: 5 goals and 2 assists in his last 9.
-Shea Weber: 3 goals and 11 assists in his last 13 games.
COLD
-Martin Erat: 1 goal and 2 assists in his last 7 games.
-Marcel Goc: 1 assist in his last 7 games.
-Sergei Kostitsyn: 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 8 games.
-Ryan Suter: 0 points in his last 4 games
NOTABLE INJURIES
CANUCKS
-F Alex Bolduc: separated shoulder
-D Aaron Rome: MCL
-D Andrew Alberts: shoulder
-D Sami Salo: achilles tendon
PREDATORS
-F Marek Svatos: knee
-F J.P. Dumont: neck
-D Francis Boullion: upper body
-F Steve Sullivan: upper body (big f*cking surprise)
-F Jordin Tootoo: personal
-F Matthew Lombardi: concussion
VIDEO
The last time the Canucks and Predators battled:
The Green Men hassling the Preds:
Burrows and Hamhuis scrapped once:
No love between these 2 teams: Fan Cam 2008:
Watch out for that Martin Erat foo:
GO CANUCKS!