Vancouver 1, Nashville 0
When: 10:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia
Referees:
Ghislain Hebert, Marc Joannette
Linesmen:
Lonnie Cameron, Kiel Murchison
Attendance:
18312
By The Sports Xchange
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Henrik Sedin moved closer to a milestone Tuesday night -- but he was more excited about helping his Vancouver Canucks get back on the winning track.
Sedin's goal at 12:28 of the third period gave the Canucks a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators. With the goal, Sedin, 36, moved within a point of 1,000 for his NHL career.
"The focus in here hasn't been on trying to reach 1,000," he said. "That's going to happen soon, I hope. Knock on wood."
The Canucks (21-19-6) ended their losing streak at four games while avenging a loss to the Predators in the dying seconds of overtime at Nashville last week. The Predators (20-17-7) took their first loss in four games.
Sedin broke a scoreless deadlock as he put in a rebound of a Luca Sbisa shot that went off the boards. With the goal, Sedin moved within a point of 1,000 for his career. The puck went in off Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne's pads.
"It came up pretty hard from the boards and I just managed to get kind of a backhand -- I don't know what it was really," said Sedin, who had gone eight games without a goal. "Rinne came back hard, it hit his pads and went it."
Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said, "It was good to see (him getting closer to the milestone). That was a smart play. He's so smart and just chipped it. It was a big goal for us."
The marker also provided relief to Sbisa after he failed to put his shot on net.
"We blocked a shot, and then we had an odd-man rush the other way," said Sbisa. "Loui (Eriksson) made a nice play to pass (the puck) to me. I had a few guys behind me, so I just tried to put it on net. ... If Hank doesn't bury that rebound, I'd be mad at myself for missing the net, but we'll say I put it on the side on purpose."
True to form, Sedin wanted to talk more about his team's defensive effort than the approaching milestone.
"We know the skill they have up front, so for us there was a lot of focus on our defensive play," Sedin said. "We did a great job of keeping them to the outside for the most part."
Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller posted 30 saves for his second shutout of the season, while Rinne stopped 25 of 26 shots.
"For any fan, it would be a boring game to watch," Predators center Ryan Johansen said. "I thought they did a good job playing really tight defense and made it tough for us. And when we did get a few chances, Miller played really well for them, so that's a game we felt should have at least gone to overtime."
Due to a disallowed Nashville goal, the game was scoreless after 40 minutes although both teams generated a reasonable number of shots -- 20 apiece. The Predators kept Miller busy early, but the game started with little emotion considering that the teams waged a tight battle recently.
"When they got their chances, Millsy was there for us," Sedin said.
Nashville had a goal disallowed following a lengthy video review involving the league's situation room at 15:10 of the first period. Derek Grant, an Abbotsford, British Columbia, native, was denied his first NHL goal after officials determined that a referee intended to blow the whistle before the puck crossed the goal line. Grant had jammed the puck inside the post during a scramble as Miller attempted to freeze the disc with his blocker.
"It's frustrating," Nashville coach Peter Laviolette about the decision said. "We're in a playoff battle. We need every point, so we're walking away with none tonight."
The referee in question put the whistle to his lips but did not blow it before signaling a goal. According to NHL rule 78.5, apparent goals shall be disallowed "when the referee deems the play has been stopped, even if he had not physically had the opportunity to stop play by blowing his whistle."
"I don't understand it all myself," Laviolette said. "I don't understand any explanation I got tonight."
Midway through the second period, Rinne got his blocker on an Alex Edler shot off a Vancouver rush. Later in the middle frame, the Predators goaltender got lucky as Daniel Sedin fired the puck over the net on a two-on-one with his twin brother, Henrik.
Late in the second, Rinne foiled Eriksson as the Canuck attempted a deke while going in on net alone. Rinne also made saves on Daniel Sedin and Brendan Gaunce, and fortune was on the Nashville goaltender's side again as both Troy Stecher and Markus Granlund missed the net on dangerous chances.
While Henrik Sedin moved close to a milestone, Desjardins, whose job was considered to be in jeopardy earlier in the season, hit a landmark, recording his 100th NHL head-coaching win.
"Honestly, I didn't even know about it until after the game -- I got a text on it," said Desjardins, who learned about the accomplishment from his son. "It's a tough league. All the wins are hard, so it was good to get."
NOTES: Vancouver D Ben Hutton will miss three to six weeks with a broken bone in his hand. Hutton was hurt in a game against the Calgary Flames on Jan. 6. ... Predators D P.K. Subban missed his 15th straight game because of an upper-body injury despite taking part in the team's morning skate. ... The Canucks also announced that LW Anton Rodin will be out indefinitely as he rests and rehabilitates a troublesome knee. Rodin played only three games this season. He had surgery to repair a lacerated knee tendon suffered while playing in Sweden last spring. He fell on the knee in the same game against Calgary in which Hutton was hurt ... Former Predators RW Reid Boucher suited up for his first game as a Canuck. Boucher played for three NHL teams this season -- Nashville, New Jersey and Vancouver. He also toiled for Nashville's AHL farm club in Milwaukee.
Top Game Performances
Nashville |
|
Vancouver |
N/A |
Points |
Henrik Sedin 1 |
N/A |
Goals |
Henrik Sedin 1 |
N/A |
Assists |
Loui Eriksson 1 |
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Pekka Rinne .962 |
Save Percentage |
Ryan Miller 1.000 |
Pekka Rinne 25 |
Saves |
Ryan Miller 30 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Nashville
|
30 |
0 |
0-1 |
1-1 |
2 |
30 |
Vancouver
|
26 |
1 |
0-1 |
1-1 |
2 |
34 |
Upcoming Games
-
Vancouver will play their next game at home against Florida. The Canucks have a W/L % of .476 after a win and .440 after a loss.
-
Nashville will play their next game on the road against Calgary. The Predators have a W/L % of .350 after a win and .542 after a loss.