By JIM DIAMOND
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — It was a grand night for Daniel Sedin.
Brock Boeser had two goals and an assist, Sedin surpassed 1,000 career points and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Nashville Predators 5-3 on Thursday.
Loui Eriksson also scored twice and Sedin had a goal and two assists for Vancouver, which snapped a three-game losing streak. Henrik Sedin added three assists, one on his brother’s 1,000th NHL point — a power-play goal that tied it 3-all at 10:22 of the third period.
“I wanted it to be a goal and in a big win, too,” Daniel Sedin said. “We got both, so I’m extremely proud of the group. To be a part of this group, too, it’s amazing.”
Daniel Sedin now has 1,001 career points. He and Henrik Sedin are the first pair of brothers to both reach 1,000 in the NHL.
“It’s been special playing with him for so long on the same team,” Daniel Sedin said.
Anders Nilsson made 29 saves for the win.
Craig Smith had a goal and an assist for Nashville. Filip Forsberg and Nick Bonino also scored for the Predators.
“We gave up too much in the second and in the third,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “When you have a 3-2 lead going into the third, you can continue to push but you have to do it inside of some structure. I thought that we lost the structure and they gained a lot of opportunities from it. We need to play better defense.”
Smith scored the game’s first goal at 2:42 of the second period. From the neutral zone, Matt Irwin banked a pass off the right boards across the Vancouver blue line. Smith skated to the puck and carried in along the right side before cutting toward the net parallel to the goal line. In front, he slipped a backhand between Nilsson’s pads.
Boeser tied it 12 seconds later.
After taking a pass from Bo Horvat above the right circle, the rookie cut to the slot with a nice toe drag before firing a wrist shot high to the stick side of goalie Pekka Rinne.
Forsberg made it 2-1 at 4:31 of the second. With the Predators on a power play, Smith sent a cross-ice pass from the left faceoff dot to Forsberg in the right circle. His wrist shot deflected off the crossbar and in.
Forsberg leads Nashville in goals with 13 and power-play goals with eight.
The Predators have scored at least one power-play goal in each of their 12 home games this season, setting a franchise record for consecutive home games with a man-advantage goal.
Eriksson tapped home the rebound of Daniel Sedin’s slap shot from the right circle at 14:11 of the second.
At 16:45 of the period, Bonino capped a wild scramble when, with his feet below the goal line, he reached around and tapped the puck by Nilsson.
Daniel Sedin tied it with a wrist shot from the high slot that beat Rinne between the pads.
Boeser scored his second of the night at 14:08 of the third.
From the left dot, Nikolay Goldobin slid a pass to Boeser in the slot. He skated toward the net and made a move before beating Rinne low to the glove side.
“Goldie played a heck of a game and I thought our line played really well tonight,” Boeser said. “It was a tremendous pass. I don’t know how he got it through, honestly.”
Boeser had a trio of two-goal games on the six-game road trip that ended Thursday.
“We definitely gave them too many odd-man rushes. I think they had two or three breakaways — that can’t happen,” Nashville captain Roman Josi said about the third period. “I thought we had a couple of chances early in the third and couldn’t capitalize.”
Eriksson added an empty-netter to seal it.
NOTES: Rinne made 27 saves. ... Nashville entered with the league’s best home power play, converting at a 40 percent rate. The Predators went 1 for 4 with the man advantage. ... The Predators are 12-2-2 when leading after two periods. ... Henrik Sedin has eight assists in his last six games. ... Eriksson has points in three straight games.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Predators: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.
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