The Canucks host the Predators across the street from Sunday’s biggest day in Canadian football.
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When: Sunday, 7 p.m., Rogers Arena
TV: SN Pacific. Radio: Sportsnet 650
The buzz: So the Canucks got back in the win column on Saturday against a mediocre Blackhawks squad. Nearly as mediocre, the Nashville Predators come to town Sunday, riding a three-game losing streak. This is another must-win for Vancouver. They are getting there, Rick Tocchet said after Saturday’s 4-1 win, but he knows there’s lots of growth still to come. His team needs to play more direct, to play harder. Last spring’s playoff series versus the Predators was very much that; Tocchet and assistant Adam Foote can point directly back to that series to show what their team needs to be going forward, both on Sunday and in general.
The history: The Canucks of course won their first-round series versus Nashville last April in six games, outworking Andrew Brunette’s squad by just enough to deliver a solid series victory. This is the first meeting of the season between the two.
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The hope: The Canucks have cleaned up against weak opposition this season. Nashville on paper should be better, but instead are somehow even worse than the Blackhawks, sitting at the bottom of the Central Division. The Canucks want to be a hard-working team. They turned up the dial in the second period Saturday. “We came out with an attack mentality,” veteran Tyler Myers said of his team’s final 40 minutes on the night. They want more of that Sunday.
The fear: The Canucks’ stinker on Thursday happened for many reasons, but most notably was how they struggled on zone entries. If they don’t attack with speed, they are nowhere and even weak teams can counterpunch.
The top guns: He’s been up and down but J.T. Miller has six points in five games. Elias Pettersson seems to have jump back in his stride and has three goals in five games.
The wounded: Canucks: Thatcher Demko (knee, week to week), Derek Forbort (leg, week to week), Brock Boeser (concussion, indefinite). Predators: Austin Roest (undisclosed, week-to-week), Tomas Novak (upper-body, day to day), Spencer Stastney (personal, indefinite)
The quote: “It’s going to be fun to show they missed.” — Former Predator Kiefer Sherwood about facing his old team on Sunday.
The lineup:
Suter-Miller-Lekkerimaki
DeBrusk-Pettersson-Sherwood
Joshua-Blueger-Garland
Heinen-Raty-Hoglander
Hughes-Hronek
Soucy-Myers
Brannstrom-Juulsen
Lankinen
The prediction: The Canucks aren’t blowing anyone out of the water but when they’ve been on, and this has been true more often than not, they’ve been tough to break down defensively. There’s no reason to think they won’t manage more of the same. This will be a tight contest: watch the Canucks win 3-2.
The latest: Watch for Kevin Lankinen to play goal on Sunday, after Arturs Silovs was solid against Chicago.
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