Prey

Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Nashville Predators was not an inspiring performance by the Canucks. The defence was flat and the offence was MIA for most of the game. They did outshoot Nashville 36-26, but they didn’t create enough quality scoring chances and they allowed the Predators to get far too many dangerous opportunities.

Sometimes, it’s about quality rather than quantity, and that’s a concept the Canucks have struggled with this year. They have perhaps a more impressive collection of offensive talent this year than at any other time in the Roberto Luongo era, but many times, their players seem content to take low-percentage shots instead of driving hard to the net and banging away at rebounds. The offence has shown encouraging signs at times, and the amount of puck possession they’ve displayed is particularly promising. However, they need to make sure they’re doing everything they can to score, not just throwing a lot of pucks at the net indiscriminately the way they did for much of the game against the Predators.

Another issue with these Canucks is the way they frequently seem to play to the level of their opponent. Earlier this month, they pulled off a great 5-2 win against the New Jersey Devils, currently ranked second in the Eastern Conference. The Canucks looked dominant in that game, despite facing a very solid team with one of the league’s elite goaltenders, Martin Brodeur. They followed that up with a 3-0 win over Philadelphia, a talented but underacheiving team. However, since then, they lost 5-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes, the team with the league’s worst record. That inconsistency is troubling.

The loss to the Predators falls in the same category. Yes, Nashville’s seventh in the Western Conference at the moment and in a playoff position. Their 17-11-2 record is quite solid, and is much better than the Canucks’ own 16-14-0. However, if you take a look at their lineup, you see that they’re primarily a one-line team, and much less imposing on paper than Vancouver.Steve Sullivan, Jason Arnott and Martin Erat are all very dangerous, but the Predators don’t have much depth beyond them. A successful game plan by a good team neutralizes those guys and picks up a win most of the time.

That didn’t happen Tuesday. Erat scored three goals and added an assist, while Sullivan and Arnott each had two assists. Two The Predators didn’t really throw any new wrinkles at the Canucks, but they came away with a victory thanks to poor discipline from Vancouver (the Canucks took seven penalties and allowed two power-play goals) as well as a lack of execution. The Canucks couldn’t contain Nashville’s top line, they couldn’t create solid scoring chances of their own and they couldn’t get it done.

Perhaps Vancouver needs to take a page from Nashville’s playbook. The Predators have lived up to their team name so far, seizing their opportunities and preying on weak opponents. They’ve also taken advantage of strong teams’ weaknesses, such as Vancouver’s lack of discipline. If the Canucks are going to move back into the playoff race, they need to display some of that same killer instinct, and turn themselves from prey to predators. Maybe they should get together and watch the Rocky series for some inspiration.

Tags: defence, goaltending, Jason Arnott, Martin Brodeur, Martin Erat, Nashville Predators, prey, quality scoring chances, Roberto Luongo, shots, Steve Sullivan