Predators at Canucks preview
Rinne back in goal for Nashville; Vancouver forward Boeser out with upper-body injury
by Kevin Woodley / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
PREDATORS (26-21-7) at CANUCKS (30-21-5)
10 p.m. ET; SNP, FS-TN, NHL.TV
The Game
The Vancouver Canucks won't have forward Brock Boeser when they play the Nashville Predators at Rogers Arena on Monday and hope to avoid a season-long five-game winless streak.
Boeser will miss two games before being reassessed for an upper-body injury sustained in a 6-2 loss to the Calgary Flames on Saturday.
Vancouver is 0-3-1 in its past four games after winning five in a row and leads the Pacific Division by one point ahead of the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights.
Goalie Pekka Rinne makes his first start in four games for the Predators, who are 2-1-0 on a four-game road trip and 5-3-0 in their past eight games after going 3-6-1 in their previous 10.
Nashville is three points behind Calgary for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
Players to watch
Predators defenseman Roman Josi has 54 points (14 goals, 40 assists) in 54 games this season, and 11 assists in his past 11 games against the Canucks.
Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past nine games and is second in NHL rookie scoring with 41 points (eight goals, 33 assists).
They said it
"It's almost like every next game seems like the biggest game of the year, so it's really important to maintain your focus level, your level of urgency and your preparation." -- Predators coach John Hynes
"We want to win for [Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin]. This is a big week for them, but for us too. We want to start getting back on track." -- Canucks center Bo Horvat on a week-long celebration to retire the Sedins' numbers
Predators projected lineup
Matt Duchene -- Ryan Johansen -- Mikael Granlund
Filip Forsberg -- Kyle Turris -- Viktor Arvidsson
Rocco Grimaldi -- Nick Bonino -- Craig Smith
Calle Jarnkrok -- Colton Sissons -- Austin Watson
Roman Josi -- Dante Fabbro
Jarred Tinordi -- Mattias Ekholm
Dan Hamhuis -- Yannick Weber
Pekka Rinne
Juuse Saros
Scratched: Matt Irwin, Yakov Trenin, Colin Blackwell
Injured: Ryan Ellis (upper body)
Canucks projected lineup
J.T. Miller -- Elias Pettersson -- Jake Virtanen
Tanner Pearson -- Bo Horvat -- Loui Eriksson
Antoine Roussel -- Adam Gaudette -- Brandon Sutter
Justin Bailey -- Jay Beagle -- Zack MacEwen
Quinn Hughes -- Christopher Tanev
Alexander Edler -- Troy Stecher
Jordie Benn -- Tyler Myers
Jacob Markstrom
Thatcher Demko
Scratched: Guillaume Brisebois, Tim Schaller
Injured: Brock Boeser (upper body), Oscar Fantenberg (concussion), Tyler Motte (upper body), Josh Leivo (kneecap), Micheal Ferland (concussion symptoms), Tyler Graovac (lower body)
Status report
Jarnkrok returns after missing five games with an illness. … Watson was a healthy scratch the previous three games. … Ellis, a defenseman who has missed 15 games, is skating but remains on injured reserve. … Bailey is making his Canucks debut after being called up from Utica of the American Hockey League on Jan. 31.
Stat pack
Granlund has five points (four goals, one assist) in his past seven games. … Miller has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in his past 12 games.