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Raymond, Canucks welcome Predators

Mar 3, 2011 - 4:45 PM (Sports Network) - Vancouver opted to add depth at the trade deadline rather than go after a big scorer. If Mason Raymond can start getting hot, it will be just as beneficial.

Raymond and the Canucks wrap a six-game homestand this evening versus the skidding Nashville Predators at Rogers Arena.

Tops in the NHL with 89 points, the Canucks are among the league leaders with 207 goals and decided to add to its bottom two lines on Monday by acquiring center Maxim Lapierre and forward Chris Higgins in two separate trades. Lapierre made his debut in Tuesday's 2-1 shootout victory over Columbus, but Higgins remains out with a broken left thumb.

Raymond, Alexandre Burrows and Raffi Torres all scored shootout goals, with Torres' winner coming in the eighth round, and Roberto Luongo made 30 saves through overtime with another six stops in the tiebreaker.

"Like I've always said, you lose some, you win some," Luongo said. "The shootout, you never know. Fortunately, tonight we ended up on the good side of it."

The victory has the Canucks three points up on the Eastern Conference-leading Flyers and four ahead of the second-seeded Red Wings in the West.

Vancouver hopes that Raymond's outing on Tuesday is a sign of things to come. A 25-goal scorer last year, Raymond snapped an 11-game goal drought and has scored just three times in his last 27 games.

The Canucks are 3-2 on a six-game homestand and have alternated wins and losses over the last 11 games. Vancouver hasn't won consecutive contests since the end of a six-game win streak on Feb. 4 and 7.

The Predators also engaged in a shootout contest on Tuesday in Edmonton, but suffered a 2-1 loss to fall to 1-4-1 in their last six games. Pekka Rinne ended with 25 saves and Blake Geoffrion, the NHL's first fourth-generation player, scored his first goal in just his third career game.

Still, Nashville is now tied for ninth in the West and a point back of a playoff spot.

"It's a huge point that got away from us -- these are the games we must win," said Rinne. "Obviously it's a big point, and we have to respect that, but right now it feels like a lost game."

The Predators' loss came in the opener of a four-game road trip and they have lost three straight and six of their last seven as the guest.

The Preds and Canucks have split a pair of meetings this year, with each team claiming a home victory. Vancouver has won nine of the last 13 meetings overall and four of the last six at Rogers Arena, including a 2-1 triumph on Jan. 26.

Rinne is 3-3-0 with a 2.19 goals-against average versus the Canucks, while Luongo is 9-9-0 with three ties and a 2.25 GAA against the Predators.