Canucks tame the Predators, 2-0
Another top team in the NHL, and another convincing win. The Canucks showed up and followed their game plan, while the Predators did not. It's as simple as that. The Canucks played a good game defensively as they did not let the Preds get that many shots on net, and the few shots that did go through, not a lot were quality scoring chances.
Because of the good defensive work by the Canucks skaters, Roberto Luongo did his part and was awarded his 4th shutout of the season. A picture perfect shutout at that, as a Nashville player shot the puck towards the net as the horn sounded and it went in. They had to review the video to see whether it's in before time expired or not, and was eventually reviewed "no goal".
- Good game for Markus Naslund. Other than his assist on Jan Bulis' game winning goal, he went in front of the net much more often than he has in the past. I hope he keeps doing this as that is exactly what he needs to get those goals again.
- Tommi Santala scored his first goal of the season. Good play by Alex Edler in pinching in and keeping the puck in the offensive zone, and Trevor Linden also assisted on that goal.
- Lukas Krajicek has been noticeably better on defense since he scored that goal in Detroit. Coincidentally, his good play also started when he contacted the flu... What is it with Canucks players who play better when they're sick? (Luongo in Montreal, Pyatt with broken thumb, Krajicek with flu..... etc)
Canucks won't play another game until Sunday to face the Colorado Avalanche. Hopefully by then, Willie Mitchell and Sami Salo get better by then. A big sign of the huge improvement of the Canucks is their current record without Mitchell and Salo in the lineup. In the beginning of the season, we were hovering around .500 with both of them out. Recently, I don't think we've lost a game yet.
