Phillip Di Giuseppe and Nils Hoglander scored goals just 2:49 apart in the second period and Thatcher Demko made 15 saves as the visiting Vancouver Canucks defeated the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Tuesday.
Ilya Mikheyev also scored for the Canucks, who won their second straight game.
Colton Sissons and Kiefer Sherwood scored, while workhorse Juuse Saros stopped 21 shots as Nashville had its two-game winning streak come to an end.
The game was part of a full slate of hockey on Tuesday night. For the second time in NHL history and for first time on a weekday, all 32 teams were competing on the same day.
Vancouver opened the scoring just 4:29 into the game when Mikheyev took a pass from fellow Russian Andrei Kuzmenko and put a wrist shot past Saros’ glove side.
Filip Forsberg had a good scoring chance on the power play moments later, but Canucks defenseman Carson Soucy got his stick in front of Forsberg’s shot and deflected it away from the net.
Sissons intercepted a Soucy clearing pass inside the Canucks’ zone, walked in and shot high at 15:38 of the first for his fourth goal of the season to make it 1-1.
Di Giuseppe gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead just 22 seconds into the second, getting a bouncing puck and redirecting it past Saros. Vancouver defenseman Quinn Hughes flipped it high into the center zone, where a couple of players swiped at it before it pinballed to Di Giuseppe, who was alone in front of the goal.
Less than three minutes later, the Canucks took a two-goal lead when Hoglander tipped in a shot by Hughes from the point at 3:11 of the second.
Sherwood then blasted a slap shot past Demko after taking a cross-ice feed from Tommy Novak 9:18 through the second to pull the Predators within 3-2.
Both teams had power-play chances in the third, including four minutes straight of man-advantage time for Nashville, but neither team could score.
–Field Level Media
