Canucks Game Preview

GAME DAY: Canucks @ Nashville

They screwed up the Luongo homecoming. They screwed up guaranteed win night against the Flames. And now it's 5 games on the road, 4 of which are back to backs. Wonderful...

By Kent Basky Jan 13, 2015, 10:53am PST

Time	Tuesday 5:00 PM PST	TV	Sportsnet Pacific
Season Series	1-0 Predators	Last Meeting	3-1 Predators 2/14
The Enemy	On The Forecheck	Scoring Leaders	D. Sedin: 9-27-36 J. Hudler 13-25-38

Canucks	CATEGORY	Predators
23-14-3	SEASON RECORD	28-9-4
49	Points	60
7th	Conference Position	1st
Lost 2	Streak	Won 3
2.78 (13)	Goals For Per 60 (GF60)	2.95 (9)
2.58 (14)	Goals Against Per 60 (GA60)	2.20 (2)
19.7 (12)	Power Play %	14.4 (25)
87.9 (3)	Penalty Kill %	81.5 (14)
48.4 (23)	Faceoff Win %	47.8 (25)
10.4 (19)	PIM / GP	8.5 (5)
49.5 (21)	Corsi For %	52.3 (7)
100.3 (14)	PDO	101.6 (4)

The flu-addled Canucks looked as advertised in that 1-0 loss against Calgary Saturday night, ending a fairly pathetic homestand with a whimper before heading off to Nashville. Maybe a road swing will help them get things closer to what we call 'back on track' as they've done well away from Rogers Arena this year. Or maybe it's just gonna compound into one giant tour of suck.

And it's difficult right off the bat, as they start the trip against the Predators. You know, least goals against at home in the NHL, tied for first place? Those guys. To say that the Preds have been good since giving Barry Trotz his walking papers is an understatement. And you have to, barring some type of catastrophic collapse, consider these guys as a serious Cup threat, which is awesome, because what we as Canucks fans need, is another team winning their first Cup before we do. Meh...

The Canucks are still without Dan Hamhuis, but he will be getting back into the lineup at some point on this trip, which is not good news for Frank Corrado. He could play lights out, and still see Luca Sbisa on the instead. They're also without Bo Horvat, who didn't practice yesterday, meaning Linden Vey draws back in. It's the midway point of the season for the Canucks, and I think we still don't know the identity of this team. They're still looking like they can make the playoffs, but they're going to have to start rattling off some wins at some point, as the West is just merciless this year. It's not an easy trip by any means, but a solid showing will go a long way to shaping whether or not they're playing beyond the 11th of April.

GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN

As the Canucks tour the States, especially down south, they're gonna want to make sure they avoid getting pulled over...