Forsberg and Beauvillier each get a goal and an assist and Predators knock off Canucks 4-1
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Filip Forsberg scored a goal and had an assist, and the Nashville Predators beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 on Tuesday night to level their best-of-seven playoff series at 1-1.
Anthony Beauvillier — a former Canuck — also had a goal and an assist for the Predators, Colton Sissons and Kiefer Sherwood had goals and Juuse Saros made 17 saves.
Nikita Zadorov scored for a Vancouver team that struggled to get shots on net and experienced a series of unlucky bounces.
The Canucks were playing without All-Star goalie Thatcher Demko, who was ruled out with an undisclosed injury. Casey DeSmith took over in net and stopped 12 of 15 shots, but he got off to a poor start.
Forsberg sent a long shot flying from inside the blue line and Beauvillier, stationed above the hash marks, deflected it in past an out-of-position DeSmith to put the Predators up 1-0 just 1:14 into the game.
Beauvillier started the season in Vancouver before the Canucks dealt him to the Blackhawks to shed salary in November. Chicago then sent the left-winger to Nashville in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick ahead of the NHL trade deadline in March.
The Canucks had three power plays in the first period but struggled to get shots on net.
Elias Pettersson came close to tying the score on a man advantage in the dying seconds of the opening period.
Saros slid over to stop Quinn Hughes as he powered toward the net, but the defenseman passed to Pettersson and the center fired at the empty net, only to have the puck glance off the outside of the post.
Both teams went 0 for 4 on the power play.
The Predators took a two-goal lead midway through the second when Forsberg collected a pass from Gustav Nyquist, stickhandled his way toward the net and fired a shot past DeSmith at the 7:29 mark.
Ninety-five seconds later, the visitors took a three-goal lead.
DeSmith stopped a shot from Beauvillier but couldn’t control the rebound and the puck popped out to Sissons, who batted it in.
Zadorov cut the deficit to 3-1 with less than five minutes to go in the second. His shot from above the faceoff circle hit the stick of Nashville’s Mark Jankowski in front of the net and the puck sailed in over Saros’ right shoulder.
Vancouver pulled DeSmith for an extra attacker with just over two minutes left but Sherwood beat Hughes to a loose puck along the boards and put a shot into the empty net 18:07 into the third period.
UP NEXT
The series shifts to Nashville for Game 3 on Friday.
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