THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER — Dan Ellis made 29 saves for his second shutout in three starts and David Legwand and Martin Erat scored goals early in the first period to lead the Nashville Predators to a 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
Jason Arnott notched a goal with eight seconds remaining and J.P. Dumont added two assists for Nashville (5-7-0), which was outshot 29-15 but still managed to earn its first road victory of the season. Heading into the contest, the Predators had a league-worst 0-5-0 record away from home and had been outscored by a whopping 21-3 margin.
On Thursday, they looked like road warriors against a Canucks team that has been atrocious on home ice. Vancouver now sports a 1-6-0 home record, last in the 30-team league.
The Canucks looked disorganized, lethargic and were often beaten to loose pucks against the hungry Predators.
When Vancouver did manage to test Ellis with a quality chance, the 27-year-old rookie was equal to the task.
Ellis stopped Daniel Sedin on a pair of in-close shots on the first shift of the game, then robbed Byron Ritchie with a left pad save on a rebound a few minutes later.
Ellis’s early dominance gave the Predators a chance to regroup from their iffy start, and the team made good on that opportunity.
Legwand opened scoring on a power play 6:16 into the first period, circling at the top of the right faceoff circle and snapping a shot through an unscreened Luongo’s legs.
Erat added to the lead on a transition play, sneaking behind Vancouver defencemen Sami Salo and Mattias Ohlund and beating Luongo with a backhand deke between the legs.
The goals quickly silenced the sellout crowd of 18,630, which gave Luongo the Bronx cheer the next time he handled the puck.
The crowd usually chants ‘Lou’ for Luongo, but on this occasion there were clearly several boos.
It didn’t get any better for Vancouver in the final two frames, as they were held off the scoresheet by Ellis, who improved to 3-0-0 this season and 4-0-0 in his NHL career.
He won his only game with Dallas during the 2003-04 season.
In between that stint and his current duty with Nashville, Ellis suited up for Utah, Hamilton and Iowa of the AHL and Idaho of the ECHL.
He played the last two seasons for Iowa, compiling a 46-44-2 record..
Arnott notched his fourth goal of the season on a power play late in the game, taking a Legwand feed and beating a prone Luongo.
Nashville finished 2-4 on the power play while Vancouver was 0-7.
NOTES: Canuck defenceman Kevin Bieksa left the game with 3:12 remaining in the second period after Nashville forward Vernon Fiddler’s skate clipped the back of Bieksa’s right leg. Blood was visible on the ice after the incident. … Canuck rearguard Sami Salo left a pool of blood on the ice with 4:01 left in the game after defensive partner hit him in the face with the puck. Salo did not return. … Canuck defender Willie Mitchell, who hurt his ankle during practice on Wednesday, suited up for the game. … Canuck rookie Jannik Hansen played his first game of this NHL campaign after being called up from the AHL’s Manitoba Moose on Wednesday. … Dumont played despite breaking his left ring finger during Tuesday night’s 5-1 loss in Calgary.
