J.T. Miller benched in third as Canucks lose to Predators

VANCOUVER — A pair of power-play goals by Steven Stamkos fuelled the Nashville Predators’ 5-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.

Zachary L’Heureux, Roman Josi and Gustav Nyquist — into an empty net — also scored for Nashville (5-10-3). Aatu Raty, Elias Pettersson and Kiefer Sherwood replied for Vancouver (9-5-3).

Juuse Saros made 24 saves, while former Predator Kevin Lankinen stopped 16 shots for the Canucks.

The Predators opened the scoring at 5:28 of the first period when L’Heureux collected a loose puck in front of the net and fired it past Lankinen for his first NHL goal. Raty replied for the Canucks, who then took the lead in the second on a power-play tally by Pettersson.

Nashville closed out the second period with three straight goals. Stamkos’s two tallies sandwiched the second of the year from Josi.

Sherwood, a former Predator, beat Saros for his fourth of the season late in the third.

Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet appeared to send a message to one of his stars in the third period, as J.T. Miller saw just two shifts in the final frame.

“I just went with the guys that I thought could get us back in the game,” Tocchet said when asked about Miller’s lack of playing time.

Asked if Miller’s benching was due to an injury, Tocchet responded bluntly: “No.”

After a career-best season in 2023-24 that saw him record 37 goals and 103 points in 81 games, Miller has six goals and 10 assists in 17 games to start this season.

Canucks: Surrendered the first goal for the 10th time in the last 11 games. They’re now 3-4-3 on home ice and have yet to win back-to-back games at Rogers Arena this season.

Predators: Nashville’s win was its first in four games and its second on the road this season. The Predators lost all three regular-season games against Vancouver in 2023-24 before falling in six games in the first round of the playoffs.

After falling behind 2-1 in the second, the Predators re-took the lead with two goals in the span of 2:04. Stamkos scored his first in five games with Nils Hoglander serving a delay-of-game penalty. Josi then buried another only 11 seconds after Saros thwarted Sherwood on a breakaway.

With one assist, Canucks captain Quinn Hughes’ 10 points in eight games tied him with Rasmus Dahlin for the most points by a defenceman so far in November.

Canucks: Conclude their six-game homestand Tuesday against the New York Rangers.

Predators: Wrap up their five-game road trip against the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday.

— With files from Sportsnet Staff