Sasson scores again as Canucks lose 2-1 to the Predators

First Period

Nashville had things going their way early in this one, and Thatcher Demko had to be sharp right away. Tyler Myers took the game’s first penalty for firing the puck over the glass just over 10 minutes into the game, giving the Predators a good chance to get on the board first. Demko has undoubtedly been the Canucks’ best penalty killer this season, and that remained true for the Preds’ first power play opportunity.

Demko has been phenomenal to start the new season, and to start this game, his rebound control was on another level. He kept them in this one early.

Erik Haula’s stick got up on Brock Boeser, giving the Canucks their first PP chance of the night. The Canucks’ power play struggled to get set up. That’s something we saw at times last season, but not much so far this year. They didn’t have to wait long for their next chance, and this time, they at least looked much better. Even better, it turned into a two-man advantage when Brady Skjei sent the puck over the glass from inside the defensive zone. And while they managed to get set up, that’s a pretty low bar for an NHL power play to have, especially when they had 1:30 of two-man advantage time to work with.

Some takeaways from the first:

-Demko held down the fort early, and you certainly would have liked to see Canucks take advantage and get him some run support in return.
-The power play got some looks, but really struggled to get shots on net. Four chances. Zero goals.
–Elias Pettersson with the second-most ice time in the first period. 58% in the faceoff dot.

Second Period

Special teams continued to dominate the story in this one, and next it was Marcus Pettersson who went off for high-sticking. The two best chances of the next two minutes came from the Canucks. First it was Drew O’Connor, who moved in on a 2-on-1 with Kiefer Sherwood, but elected to shoot. Juuse Saros stopped his shot with relative ease. Then it was Kiefer Sherwood, who moved in on a breakaway and tried to beat Saros five-hole. Once again, though, the Nashville netminder stood tall.

Later, Demko needed to be sharp yet again. This time, the puck found its way out in front to Nanaimo’s Matt Wood, and the Canucks’ goaltender made one of his best saves of the night:

The Canucks got the game’s next power play chance thanks to Elias Pettersson drawing an interference penalty. This time, the Canucks’ power play got one solid chance off, but it was the Preds’ penalty killers who opened the scoring in this one.

1-0 Predators.

Back at even strength, Max Sasson used his speed to equalize the game for the Canucks. That’s Sasson’s third goal of the year, and is a result of his hard work and foot speed. Can’t ask for much more than that.

The two teams entered the third tied up at one apiece.

Some takeaways from the second:

-Max Sasson might be the fastest man alive.
-Elias Pettersson (the defenceman) had a phenomenal shift late in the second where he blocked three Predators shots. Absolutely worth mentioning that he’s been one of the club’s better defencemen, and with a banged-up blueline, it’s more difficult to feed him softer minutes. He’s been good despite that.

Third Period

It was a hardworking start to the third period, and while that resulted in some relatively boring hockey with plenty of broken plays, you commended both teams’ effort in the corners.

Just over five minutes into the third, a shot squeaked through Thatcher Demko and trickled to and unfortunately over the Canucks’ goal line, as neither PO Joseph or Marcus Pettersson could sweep it out beforehand.

2-1 Predators.

Unfortunately, that effort had to get put on hold after Marcus Pettersson reached in on Tyson Jost and yanked his helmet off, earning himself a two minute minor for roughing. The Preds were on the power play with a prime chance to put the hammer down and put this one further out of reach for the Canucks. Again, the Canucks killed off another power play attempt.

How is the Canucks’ centre depth looking these days? The Canucks had a line of Garland-Sherwood-O’Connor out there trying to come back in this game. With just over two minutes remaining, Demko headed for the bench and the Canucks sent out an extra attacker.

The Canucks came close as Quinn Hughes rifled a shot pass to Brock Boeser at the net front, but Juuse Saros once again came up with a save.

With just seconds to go, Saros made another great save off of Boeser and secured the victory for his team.

Some takeaways from the third:

-It’s been a tough string of games for PO Joseph. Haven’t liked what I’ve seen from him.
-Is Quinn Hughes shooting too much? I’m starting to think maybe.
-Great night for Thatcher Demko.

What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game?