Tuesday January 26 - Nashville Predators 2 - Vancouver Canucks 1
The Vancouver Canucks go into the All-Star Break on a two-game losing streak after their second straight third-period collapse. They dropped a 2-1 decision to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night at Rogers Arena.
Such as they are, here are your highlights:
For the most part, the game lacked much zest. It was played quickly—over by 9:24 p.m.—and the Canucks limited the Predators to just 19 shots on goal.
Still, the Predators managed to score twice. Their first goal came on the first shot of the game, when Craig Smith tapped the puck over the shoulder of a surprised Ryan Miller, and the game-winner came with 4:44 to play in the third, when James Neal wired a wrist shot high to Ryan Miller's glove side.
In classic Willie Desjardins fashion, which line did he put out after the Canucks went down a goal? Dorsett - Cracknell - Virtanen, naturally. Sigh.
It was nice to see Brandon Sutter back in action, even though it's even more awkward to hear his goal song, "I Like It, I Love It" by Tim McGraw, with the Preds in the house—since it's their team goal song at home at Bridgestone Arena.
Sutter was the only Canuck to light the lamp on Tuesday, capitalizing on a Jannik Hansen takeaway to redirect a Daniel Sedin bouncer past a helpless Pekka Rinne with 8:21 to play in the first.
Just a couple of minutes later, Sutter missed the net on a shorthanded break that could have given the Canucks the lead. He definitely added another dimension to the penalty kill, which was perfect all three times it went to work.
His face-off success seemed to improve as the game went on. Sutter was 1-for-8 through two periods but was lights-out in the third period, finishing 6-for-14 for the night.
Sutter's linemate, Jannik Hansen, had another good game and is looking more and more like a legitimate first liner. I can understand the argument that he could be valuable trade bait at the deadline—certainly, his value has never been higher.
More immediately, I'm ready to see him on the power play.
Hansen is second on the Canucks this year with 15 goals—one shorthanded and 14 at even strength. That number would almost certainly be higher if he saw some ice time with the man advantage, especially given the solid chemistry he has shown with the Sedins this season, but he is averaging just 21 seconds a game with the man advantage.
Considering the Canucks' power play continues to hover at 24th overall in the league and the team also ranks 24th in scoring, why not give your hot hand a little more opportunity?
Even when the Canucks got their power-play opportunity last night with 1:49 left in the game, Willie trotted out Radim Vrbata and Alex Burrows with Sutter and Daniel. Hansen did get a brief turn on the second unit with Linden Vey, Bo Horvat and Daniel, and got the Canucks' only successful shot on goal before the final horn sounded.
On top of his on-ice contributions, Jason Botchford makes a case for Hansen as an emerging locker-room leader in his latest edition of
The Provies:
It’s more than just on the ice.
Off it, he has become a massive presence in the locker room,and has been filling — with what has become a walloping personality — whatever hole was left when KB-now-2 was scrubbed from Rogers Arena.
Hansen is funny, smart and honest as hell. He is the team’s conscience, the team’s moral compass, and a player who hates to lose, though he can, and does, handle it like a pro and does that all the time.
Botchford goes on to quote Hansen's admitted frustration on Tuesday after back-to-back late-game collapses. Pretty frank stuff.
The Canucks wouldn't be where they are this season without Hansen's on-ice contributions. It sounds like he's also doing more than we realize behind the scenes. Let him do more, I say, then see what kind of offers come in at the deadline and decide from there whether or not he should be dealt.
The only question: how do you upgrade a guy who's doing everything well right now, is still in his twenties, and has two more years to go on a high-value contract with a cap hit of just $2.5 million per season?
Speaking of trades, and trade bait, one of the most interesting parts of last night's game for me was the jam-packed press box.
If you click that Provies link above and scroll down to the last part of the article, you'll see Botchford's photo of Tuesday's seating chart which, you'll notice, contains FIVE representatives from the Montreal Canadiens, including general manager Marc Bergevin.
I wondered if the Vrbata watch is officially on.
He didn't do much on Tuesday, on the ice for both goals against and recording a single shot in 15:41 of ice time.
I also learned after the game that he probably wasn't the primary reason for all the attention. The CHL Top Prospects game is going down this Thursday night at the Pacific Coliseum and Hockey Canada is also holding its meetings to determine the preliminary roster for September's World Cup.
With so many important faces from the hockey world on hand, it's too bad the Canucks didn't show a little better against Nashville, though apparently the impression wasn't all negative.
Tuesday's win gives the Predators a three-point edge over Vancouver in the Western Conference, with a chance to add two more points tonight in Calgary.
Arizona lost to Winnipeg on Tuesday, but the Anaheim Ducks pasted the Bruins to catch Vancouver with 51 points, passing them in the standings.
If you're part of Tank Nation, the Canucks have dropped to fifth in the Pacific and 23rd overall, with potential to go lower before their next game against Columbus in eight days' time.
Though there are still four games on the schedule tonight, the Canucks are already in full break mode. They won't practice again until next Tuesday, Feb. 2.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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