Cuck The Fanucks
I don't really hate the Canucks. But I do want them to lose on Tuesday so the Predators can keep up their incredible streak they have had lately.
The Vancouver Canucks come into Nashville on Tuesday night boasting an eight-game road winning streak (tying their franchise record for consecutive road victories), as well as the best overall record in the NHL, while the Predators have been one of the hottest teams in the league of late, winning six-straight and eight of their last nine.
One of these streaks will be brought to a halt on Tuesday.
Although there haven't been many teams in the league this season having success against Vancouver, the Preds lead the season series 2-1. Each game that has been played so far this season between the two teams has been a tight, defensive battle, and no more than four total goals have been scored in any of the three previous meetings.
Nashville finds itself in sixth-place in the Western Conference playoff race, five games ahead of ninth-place Calgary and six games behind second-place Detroit (who fell to Chicago in OT right as I was typing this up) and the Preds are also five games behind third-place San Jose. At this point, the Predators are playing to keep their heads above water in the playoff hunt, as well as trying to position themselves for a favorable seed (if at all possible).
Vancouver, on the other hand, has a sizable lead over everyone else, and has spent most of the season far ahead of the pack. The Canucks have battled through some severe injury woes at time this season to still have a ten-game lead over the Western Conference with only six games left to play, which can only come with great play and great coaching. Lately, they have been able to get goaltender Roberto Luongo rest without missing a beat, as backup Cory Schnider had 39 saves in a victory at Columbus on Sunday.
The Predators have a phenomenal goalie of their own in Pekka Rinne, who is one of the few goalies this season to shutout the Canucks (and the only one to do so over the last two months) in a 3-0 win on March 3rd.
There is no doubt that Vancouver has been playing some of the best hockey of any one this season, and consequently have the best record in the NHL, but Nashville has been on fire lately and have something significant to gain by winning (or to have slip away by losing) and have played well against the Canucks this season. Vancouver will clearly play hard and give the Predators all they can handle (and more), but hopefully Smashville can rise up and support the Predators to a victory over the NHL's best. GO PREDS!
