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Legwand, Ellis help Predators earn first road win

Nov 2, 2007 - 6:48 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- David Legwand and the Nashville Predators made the most of their limited opportunities and finally put an end to their road woes.

Legwand scored a goal and assisted on another and Dan Ellis stopped 29 shots as the Predators posted a 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

Despite being outshot, 22-5, through the first two periods - and 29-15 overall - the Predators picked up their first road win in six tries and sent the Canucks to their fourth straight home loss.

"We didn't want to get into a run-and-gun game with them, we wanted them to have to come 200 feet," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "We gave up shots, but a lot of credit has to go to Danny and our defense because (Vancouver) had very few second opportunities. We cleared rebounds and the front of the net all night long."

"(Getting the lead) was huge for us," Legwand said. "Obviously, every team's better with the lead. That's something that we stressed tonight, and that's playing with the lead."

Jason Arnott and Martin Erat also had a goal and an assist and J.P. Dumont added a pair of assists for Nashville, which won for just the second time in 12 visits here.

Ellis, who was signed as a free agent in July, recorded his second career shutout, both of which have come this season. He stopped 13 shots in the first period, nine in the second and seven in the third to post the blanking.

"Our D did a great job," said Ellis, who improved to 3-0-0 on the season. "Anytime there was a rebound, they smacked it to the corner. It really kept the Canucks to the outside and I was able to see almost every puck tonight. It's always easier when you can see it as opposed to when you are screened."

Nashville, which had been outscored, 21-3, in losing its first five road games, worked quickly to build a lead.

The Predators were opportunistic, scoring on their very first power-play chance at 6:16 of the first.

Legwand and Dumont performed a give-and-go, with Legwand taking the return pass and flipping a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle that snuck between goaltender Roberto Luongo's pads for a 1-0 edge.

Just 2:06 later, the Predators struck again as Erat took an outlet pass from Dumont, streaked straight toward Luongo and slipped a backhander between his pads for his first goal of the season and a 2-0 lead.

"The defenseman took a shot and I just took a chance that if he missed the net, the puck would come around," Dumont said. "I saw Marty wide open for a breakaway and that was a great move. That was a big goal for Marty and that was a big goal for us." Arnott was set up by Legwand for a power-play goal with nine seconds to play for the final margin.

Vancouver dominated the action throughout the first two periods but had nothing to show for it. The Canucks outshot the Predators, 13-3, in the first session and 9-2 in the second but were denied thanks to the strong play of Ellis.

The backup netminder made several quality saves in the second. His best came with just 4.6 seconds remaining in the period, as he stopped a deflection from the top of the crease off a slap shot by defenseman Aaron Miller.

"Our guys were ready to play and they came out really hard," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "We had a number of quality chances, but their goaltender, give him credit, he made some good saves, and this is a tough league when you get behind." Meanwhile, Luongo stopped 12 shots for Vancouver, which was 0-for-6 on the power play.

"You've got to battle through these things," Luongo said. "When things aren't going your way, you have to work harder in practice and make sure it carries over in your game. Right now, we're facing a lot of adversity, but we've got to regroup as a team and come back next game."