Music: {allcanada} Canucks, Predators look to bolster playoff position

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

{allcanada} Canucks, Predators look to bolster playoff position

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NASHVILLE -- The Vancouver Canucks will try to strengthen its hold on second place in the Pacific Division against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; SNP, FS-TN).

Vancouver got a 4-1 win against the St. Louis Blues on Monday to stay ahead of the Calgary Flames for second place in the Pacific Division. Vancouver has 93 points and has one game in hand on Calgary (91 points).

"It's a tight race where we are right now in the standings," Canucks defenseman Dan Hamhuis said. "Every game's been huge all year. Last night was a big one. We're on a really tough road trip playing some hard teams, and it was nice to start the road trip off with that win."

The Canucks are 6-3-1 in the past 10 games and are 23-12-3 away from Rogers Arena this season. The Predators are one of the best home teams in the NHL with a 28-8-2 record.

"They're a really good team, and they've played really well this year," Hamhuis said. "They're hard to play against. We've found ways to win against top teams in the League."

Nashville has won both meetings against Vancouver this season and has outscored them 8-2 in those games. They are looking to build on their lead in the Central Division and work toward gaining home ice advantage in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"I can speak from experience that home ice matters," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "It's not always a slam dunk guarantee if you get home ice and you get to a Game 7, but to start in your building and play one more game in your building is an advantage. There's the odd year that bucks that system where road teams have the upper hand, but statistically speaking home ice is a positive factor. It certainly has been for us this year."

Nashville has won four of its past five games and has a three-point lead on the St. Louis Blues for first place in the Central Division. They have five games remaining in the regular season and said they want to use those games to make sure they're playing well heading into the playoffs.

"You've got to get your game going before the playoffs here," Predators defenseman Roman Josi said. "We're fighting for something. We're first in the Central Division, and we obviously want to keep that spot."

Predators defenseman Shea Weber missed the past two games with a lower-body injury and did not participate in the morning skate Tuesday.

Nashville center Mike Ribeiro is one assist away from 500 career assists and leads the team with 60 points.

Here are the projected lineups:

CANUCKS

Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Alexandre Burrows

Chris Higgins – Nick Bonino – Radim Vrbata

Shawn Matthias – Linden Vey – Derek Dorsett

Ronalds Kenins – Bo Horvat – Jannik Hansen

Alexander Edler – Christopher Tanev

Dan Hamhuis – Yannick Weber

Luca Sbisa – Kevin Bieksa

Eddie Lack

Jacob Markstrom

Scratched: Brandon McMillan, Ryan Stanton

Injured: Ryan Miller (knee), Brad Richardson (ankle), Zack Kassian (back)

PREDATORS

Filip Forsberg – Mike Ribeiro – Craig Smith

Colin Wilson – Mike Fisher – Viktor Stalberg

Mike Santorelli – Calle Jarnkrok – Viktor Arvidsson

Gabriel Bourque – Paul Gaustad – Taylor Beck

Roman Josi – Seth Jones

Mattias Ekholm – Cody Franson

Ryan Ellis – Anton Volchenkov

Pekka Rinne

Carter Hutton

Scratched: Victor Bartley, Matt Cullen

Injured: James Neal (upper body), Eric Nystrom (lower body), Shea Weber (lower body)

Status report: Vancouver held an optional morning skate. … Cullen, Neal and Nystrom participated in the morning skate for Nashville but are not expected to play. … Weber was the only Nashville player not on the ice at the morning skate. … Rinne was the first goaltender off the ice and is expected to start.

Who's hot: Vrbata has four goals and five assists in his past five games and leads the Canucks with 31 goals. … Josi has four points in his past four games and is one point away from tying a franchise record for points in a season by a defenseman (56).

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