Canucks 3 Predators 2: Postgame PatDown

Canucks win back to back finish five game road trip

The Vancouver Canucks are on their way home from Nashville with four wins in six games to start the season after a 3-2 victory at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.

Ilya Mikheyev, Phil Di Giuseppe and Nils Höglander scored the Vancouver goals whlie Thatcher Demko stopped 15 of 17 Predators shots. Here are some postgame thoughts and observations:

*What a difference a year makes. Last season the Canucks limped home from a season opening road trip 0-3-2 and lost twice more before tasting victory. The Canucks went 3-2 on this trip and are now 4-2 on the season. Sticking with the difference year over year theme, what were the chances last year's Canucks would have successfully killed off a pair of late penalties while clinging to a 3-2 lead? The correct answer is there was no chance. None. And yet on Tuesday in Music City, the Canuck penalty killers went 3 for 3 on the night with two successful kills in crunch time. Maybe just maybe this is a different group this time around.

*What a return to the line-up for Ilya Mikheyev. He has two points in his first two games since knee surgery and the team is 2-0 with him in uniform. His goal to open the scoring on Tuesday was not a thing of beauty, but I'm sure it looked good to the Russian speedster. Any goal likely would have. Think about it for a moment. If Mikheyev returns but goes five, eight, 10 games without scoring, he's probably questioning himself and the state of his game wondering if he's doing enough without finding the scoresheet. This allows him to play freely in his mind knowing that he has already found ways to have an impact on the outcome. That's a good sign for both Mikehyev and the hockey club.

*Let's be honest, Juuse Saros whiffed on Mikheyev's goal -- officially listed as a 44-foot wrist shot from the slot. And in a 3-2 game, that miscue was costly. While Saros would surely like that goal back, Thatcher Demko was doing his job at the other end of the ice. He was beaten twice, but stopped everything that came his way past the midway mark of the hockey game. In his four starts this season, Demko has held opponents to two or fewer on three occasions. Tampa is the only team to get to him for more than two goals. 

*Nils Höglander netted what turned out to be the game winner early in the second period. Höglander wasn't dominant by any stretch, but he was engaged all night and certainly made the most of his return to the line-up after being a healthy scratch on Saturday in Florida. Höglander's 8:59 of ice time was the team low by a considerable margin and was the only player in single digits. But he scored and had three shots on five attempts in his limited role. With the Canucks protecting a one-goal lead and then running into penalty problems in the third, Höglander had just one shift over the final 15 minutes of the game. With Teddy Blueger waiting to return to the line-up, somebody is going to have to come out. Did Höglander do enough to maintain his spot on Tuesday night? Or will someone like Anthony Beauvillier or Conor Garland find their way into the press box? Both had strong underlying numbers in Nashville, but there also needs to be a bottom line element for two players being paid handsomely to produce.

*Filip Hronek was a beast again on Tuesday. He led the Canucks with 26:58 of ice time and played 10:26 of the third period. He picked up an assist on Höglander's goal and absolutely titled the ice in the Canucks favour. In a game played primarily at even-strength, the shot attempts were 29-10 (74.3%) for the Canucks, the scoring chances were 14-2 (87.5%), the shots were 11-6 (64.7%) and the goals were 2-0. 

*Ian Cole led all Canucks in short-handed ice time on Tuesday logging 3:36 on the penalty kill. He was out for 1:33 of the Canucks too many men on the ice penalty in the first period and then tacked on 2:03 of short-handed time with the game on the line. Nashville has just four power play shots on goal in 5:25 with the man-advantage. With the Canucks at the end of a road trip and trying to close out the victory, the oldest player on the team played 9:24 of the third period which was 1:38 more than Quinn Hughes over the final frame.