Predators 5, Canucks 3: Welcome to the Desperation Bowl, Steven Stamkos

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How do you paint a picture of desperation?

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For the Central Division basement-dwelling Nashville Predators, who went on an expensive offseason shopping spree to land wings Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and defenseman Brady Skjei, the disappointment was palpable.

Five wins through the first 18 games, one away win and a combined seven goals from Stamkos and Marchessault.

For the Vancouver Canucks, desperation is starting slowly, coughing up the first goal in 10 of their last 11 games and looking for that elusive 60-minute effort on home ice. They didn’t register a shot Sunday until a Carson Soucy point shot went through at 1 p.m. 9:38 in the opening period.

And so the two-point winner is the Predators thanks to two flicks of the power-play wrist from Stamkos, who twice high-gloved Kevin Lankinen in a 5-3 win at Rogers Arena. It dropped the Canucks’ troubling home record to 3-4-3 and sounded another alarm bell — albeit on the back end of back-to-back games.

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Tocchet liked his club’s third-period push to pull within a goal, but the penalty kick was not sound in its coverage to leave Stamkos open on the flanks.

“We had the puck a lot in the third and that’s a positive, but we ran around too much on the penalty kill and overplayed one side,” he said. “We had a couple of guys running around and you can’t do that.”

The Canucks made a game of it when Kiefer Sherwood struck in the third period to make it 4-3, but it wasn’t enough. JT Miller didn’t muster a shot attempt, had just two third period turnovers and played 11:41.

“I went with the guys that I thought could get us back in the game,” said Tocchet, who added that any lingering Miller ailment was not the issue Sunday. “We need some key players to make key plays for us.”

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It wasn’t that the Canucks didn’t have their chances, they just couldn’t bury enough of them against Juuse Saros in a battle of former crease compatriots.

Here’s what else we learned as Aatu Raty and Elias Pettersson also scored for the Canucks, while Zachary L’Heureux, Roman Josi and Gustav Nyquist also scored for the Predators:

And the decision goes to…

It wasn’t a title fight, so let’s call it a grudge match between Lankinen and Saros. Not an I-can-can’t-about-you stare down, but one that suggests each stopper has the skills to win the day.

The former Predators duo split because Saros got the net and the money, and Lankinen had to find work elsewhere because he wasn’t getting either in Music City. His credible 11-6-0 record, 2.82 goals-against average and .908 save percentage would make him a starter elsewhere because of merit, not just circumstance.

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And when Saros landed a whopping eight-year, $61.92 million extension signed on July 1 that kicks off the 2025-26 season, it made Lankinen a one-year insurance here at just $875,000 with Thatcher Demko rehabbing knee injury and Arturs Silovs his competition for the net.

On Sunday we saw why Saros got the big money.

The Raty goal was a deflection and Pettersson had to let a one-timer fly from the slot. But it was two saves from Danton Heinen, out of Grade A chances to deny Pettersson low on a Sherwood reverse feed, that set the tone. Another save from Garland preserved the two-goal cushion in the third period.

In the second period, Saros denied Jake DeBrusk on a re-direct, Garland on a low backhand-to-forehand reverse and then sprawling to stop a Teddy Blueger backhander before Filip Hronek put the rebound wide.

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The Lankin also had its moments. A Michael McCarron re-direct tested him early. There was an angled shot from Alexandre Carrier and a Colton Sissons drive to the net.

Redemption for fourth line

You have to give Tocchet credit.

He could easily have benched Heinen, Raty and Nils Hoglander after they were tackled in their own zone and gave up the first goal because they were chasing and out of position. L’Heureux was allowed to go untouched next to the net to put away a loose puck.

However, the fourth line went out again and had a redemption shift. Heinen unleashed a good wrist shot with speed from a Hoglander feed and Heinen then had a backhand chance in the castle.

And Raty established a good screening position and deflected an Erik Brannstrom point shot that pulled the Canucks even in the first period.

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Pettersson has found passion

Even before he called an exact one-hour slapper on the power play that found the glove side from the opening — a no-hesitation zip shot the likes of which he hasn’t seen in some time — the center was noticeable Sunday.

Let’s put it this way. Pettersson got to play one again. It’s like a light bulb suddenly went on two weeks ago because his commitment in practice to putting in the extra work and bringing it into play had been more than refreshing.

He looks like the Petey of old, and that’s crucial for the Canucks.

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