The Vancouver Canucks fell 5-3 to the Nashville Predators on Sunday Night.
The Vancouver Canucks fell 5-3 to the Nashville Predators on Sunday Night.
The Vancouver Canucks suffered their seventh home loss on the season Sunday as they fell to the Nashville Predators 5-3. Vancouver's offence came from Aatu Räty, Elias Pettersson and Kiefer Sherwood, while Kevin Lankinen stopped 16 of the 20 shots he faced. With the loss, the Canucks drop to 3-4-3 at Rogers Arena this season and have yet to win consecutive games at home in 2024-25.
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While Vancouver did have their chances, they once again could not find a way to win at home. They have also now given up at least five goals on five occasions through ten games, which is a stark contrast to last season when they allowed five just twice through 41 regular-season games. The inability to win at Rogers Arena is not just a frustration shared by the team but also the fan base who, as Rick Tocchet pointed out on Tuesday after their game against the New York Islanders, are paying hundreds of dollars to watch the Canucks play.
The most glaring issue on Sunday was the penalty kill. The Predators went two for two with the man advantage thanks to two Steven Stamkos goals. When asked about the penalty kill in this game, Tyler Myers said, "Just a couple of mishaps. It's going to happen throughout the year. We'll take a look at them for sure. We look at them in between periods. We just got to come out and still come out with confidence. We've been good on the PK this year, and we don't want to lose confidence. We want to come out and be ready to be proactive and continue, for the most part, what's been good this whole year."
As for the coach's thoughts, he liked how his team played outside of the penalty kill. When asked about his team's performance, Rick Tocchet said, "I liked our five-on-five. Obviously, penalty kill wasn't good. That kind of was the difference in the game. We're up two to one. We had a couple of chances for an empty net, and then we started taking penalties, and they scored the two goals. But I liked the effort in the third. Came back and had the puck a lot, so that's a good positive."
Tocchet also spoke about J.T. Miller, who did not play the final 15 minutes of the game. Tocchet was blunt, saying, "I went with the guys I thought could get us back in the game." Tocchet was also asked if an injury played a factor in Miller's benching, answering "No."
There were some positives from the game, including the play of Räty, who scored his first with Vancouver. Räty also went ten for 13 in the faceoff dot and played multiple shifts with under three minutes less as the Canucks were pushing for a goal. When asked about Räty's play, Tocchet said, "I thought he was good, especially the face-offs. I think he was like seven and 0 on the left dot. He gave us a chance there. It's good that he scored."
Ultimately, the main takeaway from this game is that Vancouver suffered yet another home loss. They gave up the first goal for the 11th time this season, and while they did hold the lead, could not find a way to bounce back after giving up three straight in the second period. With one more game on this six-game homestand, the Canucks need to start on time and deliver a strong performance against the New York Rangers.
Facts and Stats:
- With his power play assist, Quinn Hughes ties J.T. Miller and Thomas Gradin for 9th all-time in power play points by a Vancouver Canuck
- Kiefer Sherwood has now thrown five or more hits in 13 of his 17 games this season
- Aatu Räty has won 60% or more of his faceoffs in seven of his ten games so far this season
- Canucks fail to block at least 15 shots for the 13th time this season
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
5:28- NSH: Zachary L'Heureux (First Career Goal) from Cole Smith and Michael McCarron
11:34- VAN: Aatu Räty (First As A Canuck) from Erik Brännström and Danton Heinen
2nd Period:
9:51- VAN: Elias Pettersson (6) from Quinn Hughes and Conor Garland (PPG)
12:17- NSH: Steven Stamkos (5)
from Roman Josi and Ryan O'Reilly (PPG)
14:21- NSH: Roman Josi (2)
from Brady Skjei and Filip Forsberg
19:38- NSH: Steven Stamkos (6) from Jonathan Marchessault and Filip Forsberg
3rd Period:
14:00- VAN: Kiefer Sherwood (4) from Danton Heinen and Tyler Myers
19:39- NSH: Gustav Nyquist (6) (ENG)
Up Next:
The Canucks will wrap up their six-game homestand on Tuesday with a matchup against the Rangers. Last year, the two teams split the season series, with each picking up a win on the road. Game time is set for 7:00 pm PT from Rogers Arena.
