The Vancouver Canucks had their socks on in Nashville on Tuesday night, which meant one thing and one thing only: it was business time.
That’s why they call them business socks.
Head coach Rick Tocchet said he wanted a “business-like” approach to this game and the Canucks took that to heart. Against the Nashville Predators, they were not only all business but they also took care of said business.
It was about as complete a game as the Canucks could hope for, marred only by a couple of puck-management mistakes and late-game penalties. They allowed just 18 shots on goal from the Predators and shot attempts were 59-to-30 at 5-on-5 — all the more impressive because the Canucks were defending a lead for most of the game.
The win gave the Canucks a winning record on their five-game road trip — three wins and two losses. It's a good thing too, as no business can operate at a loss for long.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” said Thatcher Demko. “It’s been a long road trip. Sometimes these last games are tough — you’re excited to get home, we’ve been out for 13 days now, so everyone’s excited to see their families but it’s important to bring a business mentality to these last games and make sure that we close out the road trip well.”
While Tocchet pushed the “business mentality” for this game, he credited the leadership group among the players for turning things around after a dismal game against the Philadelphia Flyers a week earlier.
“I give the players a lot of credit in that room,” said Tocchet. “We were all pissed off at that game and then they took leadership. Some guys took it on their own — ‘Hey, we’ve got to be better.’ I stayed away, they kind of ran the room a little bit. I thought that was great.”
One might say they ran the room like a boss. In a business meeting. Doing a business.
I may have lost control of the business references. You could say I was out of business after I watched this game.
- The Canucks possessed the puck like it was Regan MacNeil and one of the big difference-makers was the bottom-six. While both Elias Pettersson’s and J.T. Miller’s lines played well, the energetic play from the third and fourth lines meant the pressure never let up for the Predators. You can call the bottom-six Legion, for they were many and they were all about possession.
- This was a dominant game for Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes, a pairing that, like Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, I’m warming up to even if I think long term they’ll split up. Hronek led the Canucks ice time with 27:33, while Hughes was not far behind at 25:16 and they both finished the game with corsi percentages over 70%. According to Natural Stat Trick, scoring chances were 14-to-2 with Hronek on the ice at 5-on-5 and 11-to-2 when Hughes was on the ice at 5-on-5.
- A lot of that territorial advantage came from smart defensive plays turned immediately into breakouts, like this simple stick lift by Hughes behind the net on Cole Smith. The 6’3” Smith is far bigger than Hughes, but the Canucks captain establishes body position, takes away the stick, then accelerates to the loose puck before springing a 2-on-1 the other way. Hughes executes these types of plays all the time to tilt the ice and everyone would know that if they watched the dang games.
- Ilya Mikheyev opened the scoring with his first of the season. Andrei Kuzmenko battled hard along the boards in the defensive zone, leading to a loose puck for Ian Cole, who sent Kuzmenko and Mikheyev up ice. Kuzmenko gained the zone then slipped a pass along the blue line for Mikheyev, whose long shot fooled Juuse Saros, dipping under the glove like an R.A. Dickey knuckleball.
- That assist was all about hard work but he nearly had a much fancier highlight later in the first period when he hackysack’d a puck with his heel, nearly sending Pettersson in behind the defence. It didn’t work out. It would’ve been a lot cooler if it did.
- Unfortunately, moments later Soucy turned the puck over in the defensive zone and Colton Sissons took advantage, cutting into the middle of the ice while using Smith as a lead blocker to take Soucy out of the play, while Tyler Myers had to contend with a man open at the backdoor. That left Sissons with all the time he needed to snipe the puck top corner past Demko.
- A superb second period got started the right way, with a goal in the opening minute. Hughes hoisted a puck up ice and Ryan McDonagh couldn’t control the bouncing puck. Brock Boeser was able to swoop in and knock the puck free to Phil “It’s Not Delivery” Di Giuseppe, who — as is his wont — never stopped going to the net. Di Giuseppe was able to tip the bouncing puck past the poke-checking paddle of Saros to make it 2-1.
- A few minutes later, the Canucks extended the lead. A strong shift by the Pettersson line then the line of Conor Garland, Pius Suter, and Dakota Joshua forced an icing, keeping a tired Predators group on the ice, with Roman Josi stuck on the ice for nearly three minutes. That gave the Canucks some time and space, leading to a Hughes shot that Nils Höglander neatly tipped in past a Sam Lafferty screen.
- This was a very strong game for Höglander after he was a healthy scratch last game. He was all over the ice like mango on baobing, driving his line with his energetic forechecking and board battles. Shot attempts were 13-to-4 for the Canucks when he was on the ice at 5-on-5, second in corsi percentage behind only Conor Garland.
- The Predators got one back after a misplaced pass by Sam Lafferty, leading to a 3-on-2 the other way. The Predators’ speed backed in Soucy and Myers, and they perfectly executed the odd-man rush, with Tommy Novak putting a pass right in the wheelhouse of Kiefer Sherwood. Would he absolutely hammer the one-timer past Demko? He sure would.
- The Canucks were cruising in the third period, thoroughly limiting the Predators chances, but then they got into penalty trouble. Mark Friedman got a little overzealous while checking Ryan O’Reilly, depositing the centre into the Canucks net like he was escorting a captured prisoner to jail. Turns out you can’t just put your opponents in the net in hockey. It’s not allowed. Who knew?
- The Canucks killed off the penalty, but then Myers took a very unnecessary cross-checking penalty just as the previous penalty expired. Fortunately, the referees seemed to finally realize that they hadn’t called a single penalty on the Predators all game — despite having many opportunities — and made a super-soft interference call on Evangelista for bumping into Hronek, who went down rather easily. Hronek didn’t just draw that penalty; he painted it like a drag queen, because that was a makeup call.
- Conor Garland might seem like an odd choice to have on the ice in the final minute to defend a one-goal lead, but he was tenacious on the puck to close out the game, repeatedly disrupting the Predators’ efforts with his puck pursuit and a good stick. Just as Höglander was the engine driving the Lafferty line, Garland drove the Suter line with his effort in this game.
- Is it rude to point out that the Canucks' best two games of the road trip came when Tyler Myers played under 14 minutes, the lowest among the defencemen? It wasn't even his fault that both Predators goals came when he was on the ice but bad things just seem to follow him on the ice right now.
- Just six games into the season, this has already been a rollercoaster ride for the Canucks, with towering highs and wildly-disorienting lows. This game was definitely a high but what the Canucks have to hope for is that this is a steadier high — one that the Canucks can stay on without plunging downward for a while. It would lead to a little bit less whiplash for their fans.
