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Vancouver Canucks make another comeback, end trip with a point in Nashville

December 14, 2018, 1:20 PM ET [265 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Thursday December 13 - Nashville Predators 4 - Vancouver Canucks 3 (OT)

Another late comeback, but the Vancouver Canucks had to settle for a single point as their winning streak was snapped in overtime against the Nashville Predators on Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena.

Here are your highlights from a game that was short on entertainment value until the dying minutes of the third period:



Looking for revenge on home ice after dropping that 5-3 decision to the Canucks at Rogers Arena last week, the team with the NHL's second-lowest goals against looked like it was going to lock down the win early.

Making his first start in four games, Anders Nilsson looked shaky in net as the Preds took a 2-0 lead on their first four official shots of the game. Ex-Canuck Dan Hamhuis drew the lone assist on Ryan Hartman's ninth of the year at 5:52, then Nick Bonino extended the lead with his fifth at 8:40.

After that, Nilsson started to settle down. He went on to make 30 saves, including quite a few of the impressive variety. The Preds controlled the majority of the zone time and puck possession and outshot Vancouver in all four periods—34-22 in total.

The Canucks were unable to capitalize on two overlapping first-period power-play opportunities, which included a 5-on-3, but Jay Beagle kept it close when he took a pinpoint pass from Markus Granlund on the penalty kill, then deked Pekka Rinne to bring the Canucks within one while Antoine Roussel served a first-period penalty for slashing Craig Smith.




The goal was Beagle's first as a Canuck, making him the 24th player to score at least one goal for Vancouver this year. According to the NHL, that's the highest number of any team in the league.

Just four Canucks skaters haven't scored yet this season: Chris Tanev, Alex Biega, Tim Schaller and Reid Boucher. Biega did end up drawing in for his 10th game of the year on Thursday after Erik Gudbranson was a late scratch due to back spasms.

I enjoyed the first intermission, which featured Dan Murphy chatting with both Hamhuis and former Canuck Cody Hodgson, who is now making his home in Nashville and working to grow the game. Hodgson was forced to retire as a member of the Predators organization two years ago after he was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder.

I was pleased to see Hodgson looking so happy and healthy as he chatted with Murph about his new life and the documentary film that has been made about his situation.



Click here to check out the extended trailer for the documentary and to learn more about Hodgson's condition. I'm sure it was tough for him to receive this diagnosis, but he seems to have found peace after years of frustration, not knowing what was holding him back from playing his best hockey.

Now, back to our game...

The Preds extended their lead to 3-1 in a forgettable second period and looked like they'd scored a fourth goal early in the third, but a coach's challenge from Travis Green got it disallowed for being offside.

That proved significant: setting the stage for another late comeback.

Two big things stood out to me as the Canucks forced overtime:

• First, mad props to Bo Horvat for reeling in Jake Virtanen to ensure that he didn't get dinged for a retaliation penalty after Roman Josi cross-checked Horvat into the end boards with 4:49 left to play in the third. To pick himself up and have the presence of mind to be focused on making sure his team went to the power play, physically restraining Jake—that was a captain's move, in my book.

• Second, mad props to Travis Green for his bench and goalie management to close out the third period. After Brock Boeser made it 3-2 with a rocket of a power-play one-timer that we've been waiting all year to see, the manpower situation got complicated when Hamhuis went to the box for a puck-over-glass penalty with 3:10 left on the clock, then Alex Edler took a slashing penalty on Ryan Ellis that left just 1:59 in the period by the time the Canucks were able to gain possession and stop the clock.

With the ensuing faceoff in the offensive zone, Green astutely called his time out and pulled Anders Nilsson—a Hail Mary that effectively gave his team a 5-on-4 man advantage even though the two teams were officially playing at even strength.

Hamhuis was out of the box by the time Horvat tied the game with his 15th of the year, with 49 seconds left on the clock.




Great puck movement and tenacity by the entire crew on the ice for this goal. Nikolay Goldobin and Ben Hutton drew the assists, but Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser also did their part to help make it happen.

Officially, the tying goal was Vancouver's second shorthanded marker of the game and sixth of the year, which puts them in third place in the league in that category behind Arizona (11) and Calgary (7).

In the end, the Canucks couldn't quite finish the job and bring all six possible points home from the road trip. Colton Sissons ended the game with his 10th of the year at the 3:05 mark of overtime. But in the big picture, the game has to be considered in a pretty positive light. Another successful comeback should help the team breed more confidence, and Nilsson got better as his night went on, which is great news.

He'll be needed on the upcoming homestand, which features five games in eight nights and kicks off with the rare home back-to-back: Saturday against the Flyers, then Sunday against the Oilers.

The team flew back to Vancouver after Thursday's game and is taking a day off on Friday.

Just one assist for Elias Pettersson on Thursday, but he is now riding a five-game point streak—and has 11 points in those five games.


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