The Nashville Predators will again try to stave off elimination in the Western Conference semifinals, as they host the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks tonight, Monday May 9th, for Game 6 at Bridgestone Arena. The Canucks lead the series 3-2. NHL oddsmakers have the Canucks as -220 moneyline home favorites over the Predators (+180) with the over/under listed at 5 goals. Be sure to check the Canucks vs Predators NHL Point Spreads and get your predictions in early.
Vancouver’s (7-5, 2-2 V) Ryan Kesler scored twice and Raffi Torres added a goal and an assist for the Canucks, who are looking to reach the conference finals for the first time since 1994. Roberto Luongo made 19 saves in the loss. "They came out real strong and had a lot of energy to start," said Vancouver head coach Alain Vigneault. "I thought we played a good first period, but things started to slip away for us in the third." Vancouver has a poor 1-4 record when it has a chance to eliminate a team this postseason. Of course, the Canucks led Chicago three-games-to-none in the opening round, but needed to win Game 7 to take the series. The Sedin twins had an awful showing in Game 5, as Vancouver's star forwards went without a point and combined for a minus-seven rating. Daniel Sedin, who led the NHL with 104 points this year, has just two assists in this series. Henrik Sedin has a goal and two assists in the set and all of those points came in Game 4. With the Sedins struggling, Kesler has shouldered the offensive load for the Canucks in this series, posting five goals and four assists. He scored the game-winning tallies for Vancouver in both of the games played in Nashville.
Nashville (6-5, 2-3 H) stayed alive thanks to a strong performance by Joel Ward in Game 5 at Rogers Arena. Ward, who has seven goals and five assists in this year's playoffs, scored a pair of third-period goals to help the Predators take a 4-3 decision. Ward also had an assist, while David Legwand scored twice for the fifth-seeded Predators, who won a game when facing elimination for the first time in franchise history. Pekka Rinne stopped 31 shots in the victory. "We were excited coming in and as a group we always rise to adversity," said Ward. "We just tried to treat this as another game and not put too much pressure on ourselves and execute." Nashville is expected to be without forwards Steve Sullivan (lower body) and Jerred Smithson (upper body) again tonight. Sullivan has sat out the last two contests and Smithson missed Game 5. Preds forward Nick Spaling (shoulder) is expected to play this evening.
Recent Trends to Consider:
Canucks are 8-2 in the last 10 meetings in Nashville.
Under is 6-2-1 in the last 9 meetings.
Road team is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings.
Canucks are 7-1 in their last 8 games as a road favorite of -110 to -150.
Predators are 0-4 in their last 4 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of greater than .600.
Predators are 0-4 in their last 4 games as a home underdog.
Canucks vs Predators
When: Monday, May-09-11, 8:00 PM ET
Pick: Canucks -130
Point-Spreads.com recommends you check out NHL Point Spreads Canucks vs Predators game.
The Bottom Line: The Canucks have to play hard for the whole game. Be sure to check Canucks vs Predators Hockey Point Spreads and get your predictions in early.
