Nashville 5, Vancouver 1
When: 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Referees:
Chris Rooney, Gord Dwyer
Linesmen:
Tim Nowak, Brad Lazarowich
Attendance:
15726
By SportsDirect Inc.
Predators 5, Canucks 1: Colin Wilson collected two goals and two assists as host Nashville overcame an injury to All-Star Pekka Rinne to record its fourth straight victory.
Mike Fisher and Craig Smith each scored and set up a goal, rookie Filip Forsberg netted his team-leading 15th tally and Mike Ribeiro notched two assists as the Predators won their sixth straight at home to improve to an NHL-best 17-2-1 at Bridgestone Arena. Carter Hutton turned aside all 10 shots he faced in relief of Rinne (20 saves), who suffered a lower-body injury early in the third period as he denied a hard-charging Chris Higgins before sliding into the end boards.
Defenseman Alex Edler scored the lone goal for the Canucks, who opened a five-game road trip by dropping their third in a row. Eddie Lack turned aside 25 shots while making his second straight start with Ryan Miller being plagued by flu-like symptoms.
Nashville wasted little time getting the early jump as Wilson backhanded a feed from behind the net to Smith on the doorstep for an easy conversion during a power play at 4:07 of the first period. Wilson wasn't done as he skated in on a 2-on-1 rush with Fisher before beating Lack from the right faceoff circle at 6:22.
A chaotic scramble in front resulted in Rinne losing his stick, and Edler took full advantage by one-timing a shot from the right circle at 2:47 of the second period to halve the deficit. Forsberg's sharp-angle shot from deep in the right circle squeezed underneath the left arm of Lack with 6 1/2 minutes to play in the third before Fisher and Wilson netted goals 2:08 apart to seal the win.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Rinne was being evaluated and is considered day-to-day. ... Nashville LW James Neal also notched two assists in his return from a five-game absence due to a lower-body injury. ... The Predators went 2-for-6 on the power play to improve to 7-for-67 at home with the man advantage while Vancouver yielded the fifth and sixth tallies in its last 56 times short-handed. ... Edler and Smith led their respective teams with six and five shots, respectively.
Top Game Performances
Vancouver |
|
Nashville |
Alexander Edler 1 |
Points |
Colin Wilson 4 |
Alexander Edler 1 |
Goals |
Colin Wilson 2 |
Christopher Tanev 1 |
Assists |
Colin Wilson 2 |
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
Colin Wilson 1 |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Eddie Lack .833 |
Save Percentage |
Carter Hutton 1.000 |
Eddie Lack 25 |
Saves |
Pekka Rinne 20 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Vancouver
|
31 |
1 |
0-2 |
4-6 |
12 |
27 |
Nashville
|
30 |
5 |
2-6 |
2-2 |
4 |
31 |
Upcoming Games
-
Nashville will play their next game at home against Washington. The Predators have a W/L % of .536 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.
-
Vancouver will play their next game on the road against Philadelphia. The Canucks have a W/L % of .542 after a win and .588 after a loss.