The Preds opened the scoring in this one early in the first. And yes, it was the Soucy-Myers pairing on the ice. 1-0 Predators.
The Canucks have obviously made it a habit to give up the first goal, but they’ve also found a good amount of success despite that becoming a habit for them
Aatu Räty scored his first goal as a Canuck moments later after a nice move and subsequent shot from Erik Brännström to make it 1-1.
I thought Räty had his best game since his recall to the big club last night against Chicago, so it was fitting that he was rewarded for those efforts early into this game.
Other highlights of the period: Carson Soucy missing Conor Garland for what would have been a breakaway pass by about a foot, and again, we need to ask — what is going on with the Soucy-Myers pairing?
Kiefer Sherwood made a nice play to set up Elias Pettersson in tight, but Juuse Saros came out to challenge and cut down the angle before Pettersson could get a shot off.
After a shaky-ish start to the first, the Canucks finished the opening frame relatively strong. In the second, the Preds came out with an extra half step that they didn’t have in the first period.
The Canucks’ fourth line had some juice tonight, and Erik Brännström seemed to be feeding off that, as the fourth line did well to build some momentum. That momentum led to the Canucks’ first power play of the game (at least that’s what we’re going with), and the power play — which has looked better since Jonathan Lekkerimäki has been added to it — made good on that first chance.
Elias Pettersson played catch with Quinn Hughes and blasted home a vintage Pettersson one-timer (yes we know he’s only 26) to make it 2-1 Canucks.
Slowly but surely, Pettersson is reaching “back” status. But he’s not there yet.