By Canadian Press

Stamkos scores milestone goal, Nashville Predators blank Vancouver Canucks 3-0

Jan 3, 2025 | 11:40 PM

VANCOUVER — Steven Stamkos scored a milestone goal and the Nashville Predators blanked the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 on Friday.

Stamkos blasted a shot over the shoulder of Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen midway through the second period for his 12th goal of the season and the 567th of his NHL career.

The tally moved him past Patrick Marleau and into sole possession of 24th place on the league’s all-time goals list.

Gustav Nyquist and Colton Sissons each added an empty-net goal for the Predators (12-20-7) in the final two minutes of the game.

Juuse Saros made 27 saves to snap Nashville’s three-game losing skid and register his fourth shutout of the season.

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Kevin Lankinen made 16 saves for a Canucks (18-12-8) team that has not won back-to-back games since Dec. 1.

The netminder was playing his second game in two days after being pressed into action Thursday when Thatcher Demko left Vancouver’s game against the Kraken in Seattle with back spasms. Lankinen backstopped the Canucks to a 5-4 shootout win.

TAKEAWAYS

Canucks: The home side was once again missing a number of stars. Earlier on Friday, Vancouver placed centre Elias Pettersson (undisclosed) on the injured-reserve list retroactive to Dec. 23. He joins defenceman Filip Hronek (lower-body), who has been out since Nov. 27. Captain Quinn Hughes (undisclosed) and goalie Thatcher Demko (back spasms) also missed Friday’s game.

Predators: Two fresh faces joined Nashville’s lineup. Ozzy Wiesblatt made his NHL debut and Spencer Stastney played his first game of the season after missing the beginning of the campaign for personal reasons. Both forwards were called up from the American Hockey League’s Milwaukee Admirals on Thursday.

KEY MOMENT

Saros set the tone for the game just over three minutes into the first period when Canucks centre J.T. Miller sprinted in for a breakaway, only to see the Nashville netminder deny him with a blocker stop.

KEY STAT

Vancouver had two power plays midway through the third period but failed to register a shot on either. The Canucks went 0-for-3 with the man advantage across the game.

UP NEXT

Predators: Visit the Calgary Flames on Saturday.

Canucks: Begin a five-game road swing against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 3, 2025.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press