Aiming to finish trip on high note
THE BIG MATCHUP Pekka Rinne vs. Jacob Markstrom
Rinne’s hot. Markstrom is not. Canucks coach Travis Green sure sounded like he was going back to Markstrom on Wednesday following Tuesday’s 5-2 shellacking of netminder Anders Nilsson by the Islanders. If the Canucks are going to pursue playoff dreams, they need goaltending of the sort Rinne’s been giving Nashville.
FIVE KEYS TO GAME 1. One more for the road
It’s been a long time away. Yes, these guys are professionals, but after three consecutive losses, can the Canucks find the right focus and battle their way to two points, like they did in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia last week? Remember those wins? They seem an age ago, even if they were on this road trip.
2. Goals from the blueline, please
Four. The Canucks now have four goals from defencemen. It may feel like a tired talking point, but on a team desperate for goals, they need scoring from wherever it can be found. There are guys on the Canucks’ blue-line who you’d think can score. The Canucks are now letting their defencemen get further up the ice. The goals have to come, surely.
3. Goldy or JV18?
Jake Virtanen got more ice time than usual Tuesday, but seemed to do far less. There were poor decisions with the puck and shots wired from too far out. Will Travis Green stick with him — or go with Nikolay Goldobin, who has watched the action from the press box since being called up on the weekend?
4. Pekka power
Nashville has eight wins in the last 10 games. They’re playing well enough offensively, but it’s Pekka Rinne who has been the story. After the offence led the way for the first half of this recent run, the story has flipped to him: Rinne has posted a .946 save percentage over his last five games.
5. Don’t be a third-pairing defenceman on Nashville
If you’re into ice time, don’t be No. 5 or 6 on the Nashville blue-line as you never play. The Preds ride the trio of Roman Josi/P.K. Subban/ Mattias Ekholm to the tune of almost 25 minutes a night each, throw another 20 minutes to Alexei Emelin and then leave the leftovers for their other defencemen.