In Nashville, the Canucks defeated the Predators, 3-1, after falling behind by a goal in the middle frame.
Thatcher Demko made 31 saves in the Canucks win.
Vancouver took the lead in the third period off a power play goal from Brock Boeser in the early minutes of the frame.
“We were looking for some certain plays, and that was one there,” Boeser said. “We went low a few times. [JT Miller] made a great shot-pass there.”
Elias Pettersson tied the game, 1-1, in the second period.
“You take the five teams that we just played (Nashville, Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers), we didn’t win them all, but coming back in the last two, especially when you are missing some key components to your team, it was a big win,” Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau said. “It’s getting us closer to where we want to be.”
The Canucks improved to 18-18-3.
“When we tied the game, you could see that we wanted this game a lot,” Boudreau said. “It meant a lot to us to be able to go [home] with a two-game winning streak where we haven’t been in over a month and [we] look forward to being there in a couple of days.”
Philip Tomasino was the lone striker for the Preds.
“I think the thing that’s allowing him to have success right now is he’s upped his game competitively,” Nashville head coach John Hynes said. “That’s what happens when you’re a player like him that’s got speed and skill and you have some offensive instincts. That consistency and competitiveness has been better, and that’s good progress for a good young player.”
Nashville fell to 24-14-3.
“We just weren’t at a level that was going to be good enough with the details of our game, to be at our best,” Hynes said. “We’ve had some good stretches here, and I think now the attention to detail we need to play with, the consistency level with that, needs to be better and that’s what we want to focus on here. We’re not playing the way we need to play to give ourselves a chance to win.”
Juho Lammikko gave the Canucks breathing room with the second goal of the third period.
“We have a lot of heart,” Boudreau said. “We’ve got a great goaltender, there’s no doubt about it. He stopped two or three clean-cut breakaways tonight. He’s a wall back there. When you have that back there, it’s a little bit of relief when the team isn’t doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing.”
David Rittich made 21 saves in the Predators loss.
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