Colin Wilson gets the first goal for the Preds, but can't seal the win in the shootout.

The Nashville Predators welcome the always favored Vancouver Canucks to Music City on Tuesday night, hoping to continue their defeat of Western Conference rivals after the All-Star break. The Canucks, however, weren’t going to leave Nashville quietly, and both teams battled through regulation, overtime, and ultimately into a shootout.  Unfortunately for the Predators, it was the Canucks who slipped by with 2-point win, their 33rd win of the season, 4-3 in SO. Here are the highlights from Tuesday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks:

KEY POINTS:

• The usuals found themselves scratched Tuesday night and that would be Jack Hillen, Gabriel Bourque, and the fighter himself, Brian McGrattan. Personally, we would have liked to see Big Ern take out Dan Hamhuis (boo) or Alex Burrows (oh heck, the whole team).
• Both teams started out strong, but Vancouver struck first at 11:42 on the power play from Ryan Kesler, his 17th goal of the season. Both Alex Burrows and Dan Hamhuis (boo) assisted on the snap shot passed Pekka Rinne.
• The Predators didn’t let the Canucks celebrate the 1-0 lead long, when Colin Wilson sent his own snap shot passed Roberto Luongo at 13:47, his 11th goal of the season. David Legwand and Patric Hornqvist picked up the assists.
• Vancouver would return the pressure at 18:21 with a slap shot from Byron Bitz, his first goal of the season.
• About 20 seconds later, the Canucks would score once more at 18:44 from Daniel Sedin, his 23rd goal of the season.
• The Predators wasted no time in the second catching up the Canucks, with a tip-in from Sergei Kostitsyn at 4:14, his 14th goal of the season. Kevin Klein and Martin Erat assisted on the goal.
• One minute later, at 5:16, Mike Fisher tied the game with a wrist shot passed Luongo, his 16th goal of the season. Captain Shea Weber picked up the only assist.
• The third period produced no goals, but both teams fought hard for the winning goal. Overtime was basically the same as the third periods, with neither team able to seal the game, thus throwing the game into a shootout situation. Here is how the shootout played out:

1. VANCOUVER – Mason Raymond – MISS
2. NASHVILLE – Sergei Kostitsyn – SAVED BY LUONGO
3. VANCOUVER – Ryan Kesler – SAVED BY RINNE
4. NASHVILLE – Martin Erat – MISS
5. VANCOUVER – Alex Burrows – GOAL
6. NASHVILLE – David Legwand – GOAL
7. VANCOUVER – Daniel Sedin – MISS
8. NASHVILLE – Mike Fisher – SAVED BY LUONGO
9. VANCOUVER – Cody Hodgson – MISS
10. NASHVILLE – Ryan Ellis – SAVED BY LUONGO
11. VANCOUVER – Alexander Edler – GOAL
12. NASHVILLE – Colin Wilson – MISS

• After twelve rounds, the Canucks were able to knock the Predators off and gain the 2-point win, leaving Nashville a little victorious (Nashville still got one point out of the game).
• Pekka Rinne was just as strong as ever, stopping 3 of 31 shots. The Predators were able to get 4o shots on goal, with twelve of those shots taken in the second period.
• The Predators only gave the Canucks one power play chance and, unfortunately, Vancouver was able to capitalize on Brandon Yip’s slashing penalty in the first period. The Canucks gave the Predators four power play chances, but the Predators were unable to use any of them to their advantage.

The Predators definitely felt this comeback loss to the Canucks, but at least scraped by with one point, much better than none at all. The Predators take some time in the Eastern Conference and head to the capital of Canada to face the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night and then over to Bean Town on Saturday to take on the defending Stanley Cup champs, the Boston Bruins at a special 12PM start game.

Until then,
GO PREDS.

(Photo credit: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images North America)