Vancouver @ Nashville preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 12, 2019 ) Nashville 3, Vancouver 5

One struggling team’s losing streak will end Thursday as the Nashville Predators look to avoid a sixth straight loss when they host a Vancouver Canucks team mired in a 1-5-2 rut. The Canucks opened their six-game road trip Tuesday against Dallas and extended their losing streak to three after a 6-1 setback.

The only positive to come out of Vancouver’s latest setback may have been that captain Bo Horvat snapped a nine-game goal drought and potted his second even-strength goal of the season. “We had a lot of holes in our game,” Canucks coach Travis Green told reporters. “When you have a lot of holes, the game is going to look the way it did and the score is going to look like it did. We didn’t play well enough.” Nashville ended October on a 4-0-2 run, but after a 2-1 home loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday the Predators have dropped six of their past seven contests (1-5-1). “When you’re in a bad stretch, you lose two, three, four or whatever in a row, you’ve got to band together,” Nashville forward Rocco Grimaldi told reporters after assisting on Nick Bonino’s second-period marker. “It’s good that we’re going through this in November. Hopefully, this is something that we can learn from and it can bond us together.”

TV: 8 p.m. ET, Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver), FS Tennessee (Nashville)

ABOUT THE CANUCKS (10-8-4): Elias Pettersson hasn’t scored a goal in three games since netting a pair in Vancouver’s only victory during its eight-game slide - a 5-3 triumph against Nashville on Nov. 12. The Canucks allowed four or more goals in five of their last seven games and have eclipsed two goals just three times in 10 contests this month. “You’re not going to win many games when you let six goals in,” goalie Jacob Markstrom told reporters after his November record dropped to 0-4-2 with Tuesday’s loss. “It’s pretty obvious when we’re on our game or not.”

ABOUT THE PREDATORS (9-8-3): Since posting back-to-back shutouts against Minnesota on Oct. 24 and Chicago on Oct. 29, goaltender Pekka Rinne has a 4.99 goals against average and an .821 save percentage in five starts. “I’ve played long enough to know that sometimes you have to stay easy on yourself,” Rinne told reporters. “You don’t want to dwell on it. Hopefully it’s not going to last long.” In an effort to spark his club, coach Peter Laviolette opted to make 12-year-veteran Kyle Turris a healthy scratch Tuesday, which paved the way for the NHL debut of 22-year-old Mathieu Olivier.

OVERTIME

1. The Predators are 2-for-13 on the power play over their past five games while the Canucks are 2-for-14 with the man advantage during their last three contests.

2. Nashville D Roman Josi leads the team with 20 points and entered Wednesday tied for fourth in the NHL with 11 points on the power play.

3. Vancouver has surrendered the opening goal in 15 of its 22 games this season.

PREDICTION: Predators 4, Canucks 2