Predators at Canucks
The Nashville Predators have finally gotten acclimated to life on the road, winning the first two contests of their four-game trek as they approach the finish line of a stretch of 11 of 14 contests away from Music City. After posting identical 4-1 victories to begin their current road trip through Canada, the Predators look to continue their good fortune against the host Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
Defenseman Mattias Ekholm has Nashville off on a good note after scoring twice in a 4-1 victory over Edmonton on Saturday. "It was a greasy road win for us, a good road win for us, and we deserved the two points," Ekholm said. Bo Horvat netted his seventh goal in 10 outings on Saturday, but Vancouver dropped a 5-4 decision to Pittsburgh to conclude a 10-day road trip with a 3-2-1 mark. "I think if we would've gotten this game it would've been a great road trip," Horvat said. "It's unfortunate, but we have to take the positives out of it and move on."
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN Tennessee (Nashville), Sportsnet (Vancouver)
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (22-18-8): Filip Forsberg collected a goal and an assist against the Oilers to reach the 100-point plateau in his young career. The 21-year-old Swede has scored three times and set up another in four career meetings with Vancouver while his 14 tallies this season trail only James Neal (17) on the team. Neal recorded two goals and three assists in his previous four games before being held off the scoresheet against Edmonton.
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (20-18-11): Forward Brandon Sutter is expected to return to the lineup after missing the last 33 games with a sports hernia. "Jumping right into the fire," the 26-year-old Sutter said as he will join All-Star Daniel Sedin and Jannik Hansen on the top line. Sutter's return comes at an opportune time as captain Henrik Sedin - a fellow center - is sidelined with an upper-body injury.
OVERTIME
1. Nashville All-Star G Pekka Rinne has allowed two goals in the last two games (2-0-0) after permitting 18 in his previous five (0-4-1).
2. Vancouver is 0-for-6 on the power play in the last five games after scoring with the man advantage in each of the previous five.
3. The Predators have scored a power-play goal in five of their last six contests and killed off all 12 short-handed opportunities in the last four.