Nashville Predators Tickets - Predators Beat Canucks 4-2

Martin Erat had his second career NHL hat trick and added an assist to lead the Nashville Predators to a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks

. Get Nashville Predators tickets and see Erat score a goal. The Canucks had not lost a game in Nashville in more than three years, but Erat was able to lift his team past Vancouver on Dec. 8.

Patric Hornqvist recorded the other goal for the Predators. Ryan Kesler and Daniel Sedin scored for Vancouver. The Canucks began a four-game road trip according to plan, winning the first two games, but then lost at Carolina and Nashville.

Erat opened up the scoring at 4:19 of the first period when he knocked in a shot that went off the goal post and then off the left skate of Canucks goaltender Robert Luongo. The forward gave Nashville a 2-0 lead at 3:03 of the second period. The Predators were on the power play when Francis Bouillon fed the puck to Erat from the red line. Erat skated in on Luongo and scored right in the five-hole with a forehand to backhand move.

Luongo acknowledged that the Canucks made a few mistakes. He said, "Taking penalties every game, you get away with it sometimes, but it's going to hurt you once in a while." After scoring only one goal in his first 17 games, Erat has been red hot lately, registering eight goals in his last 10 games. The right-winger claimed that the puck didn't bounce for him at the start of the season, but has recently pulled himself together. Erat's only other three-goal game was March 4, 2008 in Edmonton.

Vancouver cut the deficit to 2-1 at 12:12 of the second period with a power play goal. The Canucks had a 5-on-3 advantage when Henrik Sedin found Kesler alone in front of goalie Pekka Rinne. Kesler netted his sixth goal of the season. After the game, Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault expressed his frustration with the way the Canucks have been playing. He said, "Right now, we have guys that can play a lot better, that have to play a lot better." The coach continued to say that Vancouver needs to watch the standings and the importance of the games they have lost.

Rinne, who finished the game with 34 saves and recorded his 12th win of the season, said the Canucks played a "gritty, in your face game." Although Vancouver played very physical, Nashville managed the game well and was able to secure a victory at home. Hornqvist scored the Predators' second power play goal of the game at 11: 27 in the third period on a tic-tac-toe passing play. The puck was fed from Predators captain Jason Arnott to Erat to Hornqvist, who got it by Luongo.

Nashville coach Barry Trotz admitted that the Predators' power play has improved since the beginning of the season. The coach said, "The power play had some more looks today. They entered better, and then they executed better." The Canucks closed in on the Predators when Sedin scored at 16:25 of the third period, making it a 3-2 contest. But Erat sealed Nashville's win with an empty-netter.

by: Brent Warnken

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