7 4 GAME OVER

NEXTUP

Detroit at Vancouver

Saturday, 7 p.m., Rogers Arena

CBC, TEAM 1040 AM

Kevin Bieksa had some trouble answering the rescue call, Andrew Ebbett had no trouble answering his recall, Steve Pinizzotto couldn't wait to get the NHL call and Mike Gillis has been making trade calls.

On what is usually an uneventful meeting between the goal-starved Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators, there were three goals in the first six minutes Thursday at Rogers Arena as the Northwest Division leaders hung on for a wild 7-4 victory. It wasn't secured until Henrik Sedin scored on a backhand-to-forehand move off a penalty shot with 2: 32 remaining before David Booth added an empty-net goal for his first of the season.

And how about that cheeky move by the Canucks captain after his stick was held by Sergei Kostitsyn?

"I don't know - A.V. asked to get a power play instead of me going on a penalty shot," joked Henrik, the first-line centre. "I had that move and I tried it before and I kind of got lucky. I don't think either team executed well. We've got to clean up a few things. A lot of mistakes, a lot of turnovers and more goals than we expected."

Especially that one by Henrik Sed-in.

"Honestly, I didn't think we was going to score," chuckled Roberto Luongo. "I've never seen him score in practice, so it was nice to see."

And there was so much to see Thursday. Bieksa returned after missing seven of the previous eight games with a groin injury but made a costly turnover and had another puck deflect in off his skate. Fourth-line grinder Pinizzotto played his first NHL game and fought on his first shift while Gillis reportedly made a play this week for Steve Ott.

The Canucks general manager said he's been working the phones for centre-ice help in advance of the April 3 trade deadline but didn't inquire about the Buffalo Sabres veteran.

The Canucks certainly didn't need help down the middle against the Predators, the league's lowest-scoring team that was missing top sniper Colin Wilson, crease-crasher Patric Hornqvist and centre Paul Gaustad. They were also missing a goaltender. Pekka Rinne returned to his personal house of horrors and was yanked for the third-straight time in Vancouver in favour of Chris Mason after allowing four goals on a dozen shots.

The bigger story was what was happening at centre. The recalled Ebbett had a goal and two assists, fourth-line centre Maxim Lapierre scored on a breakaway after exiting the penalty box and Chris Higgins didn't look out of place in the middle of the third line and could wind up in that role when Ryan Kesler returns from a broken right foot. Who needs Ott? Then again, Ebbett was 2-for-13 in faceoffs.

"It was a terrible night for me on faceoffs, one of those nights where I had to take a lot of draws on my wrong side, but luckily I had a goal and a couple of assists to even it," said Ebbett. "We had three fast guys on one line and we created turnovers. It was a good confidence builder for me tonight and I'm sick of going up and down even though I was playing some good hockey in Chicago (AHL). I've been taking a few more chances up here rather than just playing safe."

Despite period leads of 3-1 and 5-2, the Canucks gave up a pair of third-period goals when Mike Fisher swept home a loose puck and Gabriel Bourque roofed a back-hander. Even worse, Chris Tanev gave the Canucks a giant scare when he blocked a heavy Shea Weber slapper, left for treatment and then returned.

The night certainly started well. Jannik Hansen stripped Scott Han-nan of the puck behind the Predators net and fed Ebbett in the crease where he outfought Ryan Ellis and Craig Smith for position to open scoring. Pinizzotto then announced his NHL arrival by driving Kevin Klein into the end boards and then fighting the defenceman.

"It was great, the team won and I got into it early to remove some nerves," said Pinizzotto, who has finally fought off shoulder and groin injuries. "I tried to make the most of the opportunity and I tried to get some sleep, but it was nearly impossible."

It was a turnover by Bieksa that allowed Matt Halischuk to attempt a wraparound on Luongo and then finish the job by jamming home a loose puck to make it 1-1. Alex Edler then blew a point shot past the glove of Rinne before Ebbett took a pass from Hansen and his cross-ice feed was hammered by Mason Raymond, a one-timer that Rinne overplayed and was beaten to the stick side to up the count to 3-1.

Lapierre made amends for his minor by taking a long Weise pass and then finding the five-hole to chase Rinne before a Matt Spaling shot deflected in off Bieksa. Hansen then worked around Hannan and had his shot go off Ellis and under Mason. A video rule reviewed the puck was obviously in the net somewhere under the goaltender to make it 5-2.

bkuzma@theprovince.com twitter.com/benkuzma