| PREDATORS (44-27-11) |
CANUCKS (54-19-9) | ||||
 |
AT |
 |
|||
| Time | Thurs 6:00 PM PST |
TV | CBC |
| Reg. Season Series | 2-2 |
Last Meeting |
3-1 Canucks |
| The Enemy | On The Forecheck | Scoring Leaders |
D. Sedin: 5-2-7 Fisher: 3-3-6 |
| Preds |
Category | Canucks |
| Won 2 |
Streak | Won 1 |
| 2-1 |
< Road Record / Home Record > |
3-1 |
| +2 |
Goals For / Against +/- | -8 |
| 3.67 (2) |
Goals Per Game | 2.29 (14) |
| 3.33 (11) |
Goals Against Per Game | 3.14 (10) |
| 1.60 (4) |
5 On 5 GF/GA | 0.79 (12) |
| 22.2 (6) |
Power Play % |
22.2 (6) |
| 63.6 (16) |
Penalty Kill % |
79.3 (8) |
| 31.7 (7) |
Shots Per Game | 31.1 (9) |
| 27.2 (2) |
Shots Against Per Game | 30.9 (7) |
| 100 |
Winning % When Scoring First | 75 |
| 100 |
Winning % When Leading After 1 | 75 |
| 0 |
Winning % When Trailing After 1 | 50 |
| 100 |
Winning % When Leading After 2 | 100 |
| 159 (13) |
Hits | 281 (1) |
| 76 (13) |
Blocked Shots |
74 (14) |
| 53.7 (2) |
Faceoffs % | 48.1 (12) |
| 12.8 (9) |
PIM's Per Game Average |
18.3 (16) |
| NHL.com |
Geez, can't I just be hung over in peace? No, Round 2 starts right away for the Canucks. The Predators have been sitting in limbo since Sunday, after disposing of the Ducks in 6 games. This is new ground for Nashville, who has never been to round 2 in the history of their franchise. Early prognostications have this being a much less exciting series. Lots of defence. Less goals. I'm willing to keep an open mind and accept that this series could be better than that.
Do not underestimate the Predators. Take a look at their player stats from round 1. They get scoring from a lot of different players. That is something that the Canucks did not have against the Blackhawks. But we do have a second line in Raymond-Kesler-Burrows that looks better and better all the time. So at least some of the pressure is off the Sedins.
I think this series is going the distance. At least 6, in my opinion. I have a lot of respect for this Preds team. Scroll down the page to see what else is going on with these 2 teams. The Canucks' "cold" list below is disturbing, as is the Preds' hot/cold list.
Well whaddaya know..2 Vezina finalists in the same series. Looking forward to the goalie match up.
LINKS
-Despite Game 7 win, Vancouver Canucks still face pressure cooker. (Mike Chen, SBN)
-Mike Gillis fined for referee rant. (TSN). Oh well, at least the officiating was much better in game 7.
-Dan Hamhuis talks about Game 7 and playing against his former team. (Canucks.com).
-Dirk Hoag from On The Forecheck talks Preds/Canucks with the Kurtenbloggers. You really need to check that out for a good look at what the Preds are all about.
-The Province eats crow about Luongo.
-Nice work, Canucks fans (Vancouver Sun)
-How the Preds can shut down the Sedin Twins (On The Forecheck). That's easy. Shadow Dank. Hank won't shoot. haha
PROJECTED FORWARDS DRESSED
CANUCKS
Daniel Sedin-Henrik Sedin-Mikael Samuelsson
Mason Raymond-Ryan Kesler-Alexandre Burrows
Chris Higgins-Maxim Lapierre-Jannik Hansen
Victor Oreskovich-Tanner Glass-Raffi Torres
PREDATORS
Martin Erat-David Legwand-Joel Ward
Sergei Kostitsyn-Mike Underwood-Patric Hornqvist
Nick Spaling-Jerrod Smithson-Jordin Tootoo
Steve Sullivan-Blake Geoffrion-JP Dumont/Matt Halischuk
STARTING GOALTENDERS
Roberto Luongo
#1 / Goalie / Vancouver Canucks
6-3
217
Apr 04, 1979
Profile: Ass-kicker, critic-silencer
Pekka Rinne
#35 / Goalie / Nashville Predators
6-5
207
Nov 03, 1982
Profile: The Pred that worries me the most
WHO IS HOT / COLD
CANUCKS
HOT
-Alexandre Burrows: 3 goals and 2 assists in his last 2 games.
COLD
-Henrik Sedin: 1 assist in his last 4 games.
-Ryan Kesler: 1 assist in his last 3.
-Maxim Lapierre: 1 goal in his last 31.
-Tanner Glass: 0 points in his last 18.
-Jannik Hansen: 0 points in his last 5.
-Christopher Higgins: 0 points in his last 6.
-Mikael Samuelsson: 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 9.
-Raffi Torres: 0 points in his last 10.
PREDATORS
HOT
-Martin Erat: 1 goal and 2 assists in his last 3 games.
-Mike Fisher: 3 goals and 6 points in his last 6.
-David Legwand: 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 2.
-Nick Spaling: 2 goals and 2 assist in his last 2 games. WTF.
-Jordin Tootoo: 4 assists in his last 2 games.
-Joel Ward: 3 goals and 2 assists in his last 5.
-Shea Weber: 3 goals and 2 assists in his last 6.
COLD
INJURIES
CANUCKS
-F Manny Malhotra: eye, out for playoffs
-D Sami Salo: still no word on Salo
PREDATORS
-F Matthew Lombardi: concussion. Out all season
-F Cal O'Reilly: broken fibula, may return in this series.
-F Marcel Goc: shoulder
-D Francis Boullion: concussion
VIDEO
The last meeting between the Canucks/Preds:
I believe the first ever appearance by the Green Men was vs Nashville:
The title of this post is brought to you by Radiohead "Paranoid Android":
