LDN - Sports

Subban displays mid-ice magic in Predators' victory

[December 14, 2017] VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Some might call it luck. P.K Subban called it karma.

Subban scored two goals on strange plays as the Nashville Predators routed the Vancouver Canucks 7-1 on Wednesday night.

The Nashville defenseman's first goal was a fluttering shot from the faceoff circle that went over goaltender Anders Nilsson shoulder 93 seconds into the game.

His second was a slap shot from center ice that curved and hit Nilsson's glove before going into the net. That made the score 3-0 early in the second period.

"On the second one, I just tried to shoot as hard as I could on net," said Subban, who has six goals this season. "Sometimes when you do that, the pucks are tough to handle. Just fortunate bounces.

"I can think of a couple times this year when on more of an honest play that pucks should have went in and they didn't. So, I'll take it."

Nilsson said he didn't see the first shot but had no excuse for the second one.

"That's something I would want back," he said. "Unfortunately, they happen. Maybe if you look at the positive side, maybe it's better they come in one game."

The game had a lot of strange twists. Viktor Arvidsson scored on a short-handed, two-on-none breakaway in the first period. In the third, the Predators scored three times in 3:49.

Nilsson was so angry after the sixth Nashville goal he smashed his stick on the cross bar. The Canucks goaltender still managed to make 41 saves.

"Frustration ran over a little bit," a calm and collected Nilsson said after the game. "It shouldn't happen. Unfortunately, it did. It didn't help anything."

Craig Smith had a goal and two assists while Kevin Fiala and Filip Forsberg added a goal and an assist for the Predators, who are 13-2-2 in their past 17 games. Calle Jarnkrok also scored for Nashville (19-7-4). Ryan Johansen had two assists.

"It was awesome," said Johansen, who returned to the lineup after missing three games with an upper-body injury. "It seemed like whoever was on the ice was creating offense or playing good defense.

"The two-way game tonight I though was spectacular. Overall, we're definitely happy with our game tonight."

Tempers and frustration boiled over in the third period moments after Nashville went ahead 7-1. Vancouver's Jake Virtanen high-sticked defenseman Alexei Emelin and took him hard into the boards. With Emelin lying on the ice, Subban went after Virtanen, resulting in a scrum along the boards.

Subban, Virtanen and Nashville's Scott Hartnell were all assessed minor penalties and 10-minute misconducts.

Subban wasn't making any apologies for his actions.

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Predators center Ryan Johansen (92) and defenseman P.K. Subban (76) and left wing Scott Hartnell (17) celebrate Subban's second period goal against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

"Once I saw that (Emelin) didn't get up, I knew that probably something happened that wasn't supposed to," he said. "I wish I would have got my gloves off earlier to be honest with you.

"These things happen in 7-1 games. But (Virtanen) has got to understand that if you do something like that, we're going to jump in there."

Alexander Burmistrov scored for the Canucks, who lost their fourth consecutive game. Henrik Sedin collected his 800th assist.

The Canucks (14-14-4) thought they had scored with 51 seconds left in the first period, but it was disallowed when a video review showed Thomas Vanek was offside.

Sedin was frustrated with Vancouver's overall effort.

"I don't care about the score," the Canucks captain said. "It was disappointing the way we responded.

"When it's 5-1, we have to play with some pride, play for Anders. We gave up chance after chance when the game is out of hand."

Defenseman Alex Edler said Nashville scored some fluky goals but the Canucks needed to be better.

"I think overall we just weren't good enough tonight," he said. "There were a few odd goals. That's hockey. That's just things that happen. You have to work through those things."

NOTES: Canucks D Chris Tanev didn't play the final 10:55 after sustaining a leg injury. ... RW Nikolay Goldobin returned to the Canucks' lineup after being a healthy scratch for two games. ... It was the 13th time this season Vancouver allowed four or more goals. ... Vancouver has allowed a goal on the first shot of the game five times this season. ... D Alex Biega and C Nic Dowd were scratches for the Canucks. ... LW Scott Hartnell, out 13 games with a lower-body injury, returned to the Nashville lineup. ... Predators C Kyle Turris played despite leaving practice Monday after taking a puck in the face. ... The Predators scratched D Anthony Bitetto, RW Miikka Salomaki and LW Cody McLeod.

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