Vancouver Canucks gameday: Looking to stop surging Nashville Predators

Hey, crazier things have happened in hockey. Will the NHL’s coldest team end its slump against the best club in the Western Conference? Here’s what to know for the Vancouver Canucks’ showdown with the Nashville Predators.

The record and point totals may not show it, but the Vancouver Canucks have been the NHL’s worst team by far over the past month.

This team has lost four straight games, and 12 of its last 13 overall. Ever since rookie Elias Pettersson began to cool off after a surging start, the Canucks haven’t done many things right. It’s that simple.

For the third straight year, the Canucks looked solid through mid-November, only to fall apart early in the winter season — thus falling all the way down to the bottom of the league standings. It’s not fun, but it’s a strange trend this team can’t shake off.

Well, the Canucks will have quite the task in trying to snap their funk against the Western Conference-leading Nashville Predators. The defending Presidents’ Trophy winners are sitting pretty at 19-8-1 — four points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for top spot in the NHL.

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This Nashville team is arguably the most balanced in the NHL. Pekka Rinne is enjoying a Vezina Trophy-caliber season with a 12-4-1 record. He sports an excellent .935 save percentage and 1.81 goals against average with two shutouts.

The traditionally stingy Preds have allowed a league-low 67 goals this season. Just how good is their blue line?

Former Norris Trophy winner and perennial All-Star P.K. Subban has 12 points, which is “only” fourth-most among Nashville defencemen. In comparison, Ben Hutton‘s 10 points lead all Vancouver blueliners.

Ryan Johansen leads all Predators in scoring with 24 points. It’s not going to win him the Hart or Art Ross Trophies, but it goes to show balanced the Preds are. 14 players already have double-digit points, compared to Vancouver having just eight of them.

You’re starting to get the point, right? The Predators are in a class by themselves when it comes to debating the top teams in the West, whereas the Canucks have been performing as the worst team in hockey for a month.

Last season, the Predators took two of the three meetings. The last one was a 4-3 overtime victory at Rogers Arena on Mar. 2. On the bright side, it did help Vancouver’s chances of “tanking.” The other meeting on the west coast was a 7-1 route in favor of Nashville.

So yeah, the Canucks are going to have to play a near-perfect game against a Nashville team with no glaring weaknesses. Vancouver doesn’t exactly have many glaring strengths, so there’s a chance this game doesn’t end up being a whole lot of fun for head coach Travis Green.

But hey, this Vancouver team has beaten top-tier teams already like the Minnesota Wild, Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning. Perhaps they have another big-time upset in them when the red-hot Predators come to town.