Game Notes: Canucks vs. Predators

The Canucks face off against the Nashville Predators for their first of three matchups this season. The Canucks visit Nashville next week on Dec. 13 and conclude the season series in Nashville on Apr. 4.
Vancouver went 1-1-1 in the season series versus Nashville in 2017.18 (2-2-1 in the last five games; 4-3-3 in the last 10 games). Following tonight's game, the Canucks embark on a three-game road trip that sees visits to St. Louis (Dec. 9), Columbus (Dec. 11) and Nashville (Dec. 13).
Vancouver is 6-10-1 against the Western Conference and 3-5-0 against Central Division opponents this season.

MORNING SKATE UPDATE

Nikolay Goldobin, who was a healthy scratch Tuesday against the Wild, returns to the line-up tonight versus the Predators. The 23-year-old forward skated with Bo Horvat and Jake Virtanen this morning and said afterwards he's fired up to return.

Coach Green is also making a change on defence was Derrick Pouliot draws back into the line-up for Michael Del Zotto. Jacob Markstrom is expected to start in net after back-to-back starts for Anders Nilsson.

LAST MEETING - MAR. 2/18: VAN 3 vs NSH 4 (OT)

Bo Horvat opened the scoring with a PPG goal at 5:55 in the first period...Alex Edler moved into first in franchise history for most points by a defenceman with two assists on the night...The Canucks went 2/5 on the power play...Brandon Sutter and Daniel Sedin also collected goals for the Canucks...Ben Hutton appeared in his 200th career game...Troy Stecher led the team in hits (7)...Jacob Markstrom faced 43 shots.

VERSUS PREDATORS TIDBITS:

LAST GAME - DEC. 4/18: VAN 2 vs MIN 3

Josh Leivo scored on his first shot to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 7:02 of the first period...Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser drew an assist on the play...Tyler Motte scored on a rebound in the left circle to make it 2-1 at 9:56 of the second...Tim Schaller and Troy Stecher netted assists on the play...Anders Nilsson made 25 saves...Jay Beagle registered two shots and two hits in his return to the lineup after missing 24 games due to injury.

THE ROOKIE

-Elias Pettersson leads all rookies in goals (13), points (22), power-play points (8) and points per game (0.96; min 10 GP). He also shares the rookie lead in power-play goals (4) and ranks second in shooting percentage (26.5%; min. 10 GP) and tied for second in assists (10).
-Pettersson was named the NHL's second star of the week ending November 4th. He shared the League lead with four goals and ranked third overall with seven points in three games to also help lead the Canucks to a perfect week.
-Pettersson, who led all rookies with seven goals and 10 points in eight games (7-3-10) in October, was named the NHL's Rookie of the Month for October.

FACE THE FACTS

-Bo Horvat ranks first in the NHL in face-off wins (417), first in even-strength face-off wins (334) and first in face-offs taken (767). He also ranks t-3rd in PP face-off wins (53).
-Horvat tied a season-high 23 face-off wins (the third time this season) on Nov. 19 vs MTL and had 40 total face-offs on Nov. 6 at DET

THE GOING RATE

• Brock Boeser has three points (2-1-3) over the past three games
• Alex Edler has two points (1-1-2) over the past four games
• Elias Pettersson has four points (1-3-4) over the past five games
• Bo Horvat has seven points (2-5-7) over the past eight games (three points (1-2-3) over the past three games)
• Tim Schaller has two assists (0-2-2) over the past three games
• Tyler Motte has a point in two straight games (1-1-2)
• Josh Leivo has a goal in three of his past five games played (3-0-3)