Canucks G Ryan Miller Earns Shutout Against Nashville

The Canucks goaltender needed a little help from the refs, but was able to backstop his team to a 1-0 victory in a game with playoff implications.

One goal was all the Vancouver Canucks needed, thanks to goaltender Ryan Miller.

Miller made 30 saves en route to his 37th career shutout.

Final Score:

Recap:

Miller needed some assistance from the referees and video replay to get that shutout, though. In the first period, the Nashville Predators appeared to open the scoring on a goal mouth scramble:

Miller was down and was not moving, so it looked like he thought he had the puck covered.

Technically he didn’t, and the Preds’ Derek Grant poked it into the net. The referee signalled a goal, and an angry Miller promptly complained.

And he wasn’t the only one:

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With both Miller and his wife disagreeing with the call, the officials got on the phone with Toronto. After a lengthy delay, the goal was waved off. The ruling was that the ref intended to blow the whistle before the puck crossed the goal line.

Seems strange given that same ref signalled the goal in the first place. But the Canucks will take it.

From that point on, there was very little in the way of excitement. Both teams managed 20 shots through two periods. But between the solid play of Miller and Preds goaltender Pekka Rinne, and some missed chances from Daniel Sedin and Loui Eriksson, neither team scored a goal that counted.

The best thing about the game was the physical play of Nikita Tryamkin:

The Captain Opens the Scoring

Finally, midway through the third period, Henrik Sedin made the game interesting:

Not only did Henrik give his team the lead, he also scored his 999th NHL point.

And as soon as it went in, the crowd came alive. Even the most diehard fans can only sit through so much scoreless hockey. The Rogers Arena crowd was almost lulled to sleep as the game dragged on without a goal.

But they all recognized the significance of Henrik’s goal. From then on, there was palpable excitement every time the Sedin line stepped back onto the ice.

Unfortunately, fans did not see Henrik hit his milestone point, even with Nashville pulling the goalie.

Next: Player of the Game: Nikita Tryamkin

Still, thanks to Sedin’s goal, Tryamkin’s big night on defense and Miller’s second shutout of the season,Vancouver collected two points.

As a result, the Canucks leap over the Predators in the standings, and are now tied with the Los Angeles Kings for the final wild card spot in the West.