VANCOUVER - Vancouver Canuck goalie Ryan Miller did something Saturday he said he was always loath to do: he surrendered a start to backup Eddie Lack because he was feeling lousy.

Lack was feeling lousy, too, but apparently he was less lousy than Miller. Lack went on to face the Calgary Flames, gave up an early goal and the Canucks lost 1-0. Miller is scheduled to regain the net Tuesday when the Canucks face the first overall Predators in Nashville.

“It’s not like me to give up a start,” Miller said Monday before the team left for Music City and the start of a five-game U.S. road swing. “I told myself I’d never do that when I went to college, that I was never going to give up a start. (But) I thought Eddie gave the team a better chance energy-wise. So I was just trying to get back into it today with a good practice and go from there.”

Miller wasn’t quite sure what exact ailment invaded his body but his voice was still scratchy Monday and he sounded somewhat like he was under water.

“It’s not terrible but it is pretty annoying,” said the netminder, 34. “You go through these things during the season and we usually don’t talk about them. It just came up because we had to change the start. It normally wouldn’t be an issue and we wouldn’t talk about it. I’ve been sick plenty of times and you just do the best you can. You hydrate, you find your rest and don’t try to over-extend yourself.”

FRANKLY SPEAKING: Canuck head coach Willie Desjardins almost always plays the way he practises -- barring unexpected illness, of course -- so it appears likely that rookie defenceman Frank Corrado will stay in the lineup for the Nashville game.

Corrado skated with Luca Sbisa at Monday’s practice while Yannick Weber was paired with the rehabbing Dan Hamhuis. Since the latter is not playing, it’s seems logical to assume neither is Weber. And that Corrado is.

The 21-year-old Corrado received 17:30 of ice time in Saturday’s loss to the Flames, had three shots on goal, six attempts, one hit and one blocked shot. It was his first appearance of the season on his third callup from the American League’s Utica Comets.

“Frank played well and I thought he defended well,” commented Desjardins. “I thought he had good size. I thought he moved the puck really well up ice. As I said before that game, we have to find out where he’s at. One game doesn’t tell you where he’s at, good or bad. So we’ll probably try to get him in somewhere on this trip.”

Corrado, the Canucks’ fifth-round pick in 2011, played 15 NHL games last season and seven in 2012-13 so the league is not a mystery to him. He felt he was well prepared.

“The speed on Saturday was fine, I thought it was a pretty fast game,” Corrado said. “I liked the pace of it. It’s nice to get right in the mix rather than kind of ease your way in. I thought it was a good transition. I’ve put in some good work in the minors, and up here when I wasn’t playing, so I think that stuff is starting to show.”

According to Corrado, he has matured to the point where he no longer swings for the fences – his metaphor– every time he steps on the ice.

“I think before I used to try to do a little too much and I think now I try to keep things simple,” he explained. “I think I’ve said it before: just play a game where you hit singles and doubles. You don’t need to hit a home run every shift.”

SICK BAY WATCH: Illness in the last week has taken Radim Vrbata, Chris Higgins and Miller out of the lineup so it seemed an educated guess when rookie Bo Horvat was absent from Monday’s practice. He was the only player missing. Alas, the spidey senses were wrong on this occasion, at least according to Desjardins.

“It was just a maintenance day for Bo a little bit,” said the coach, who added he expected Horvat to be available for the Nashville game.

Linden Vey, a healthy scratch Saturday, skated between Derek Dorsett and Jannik Hansen in Monday’s workout.

QUOTABLE: “I think we’re probably where I thought we’d be but I thought it would be kind of reversed. I thought maybe we go out a little bit slow and then be trending upward. Now we’ve kind of flattened off again.” – Desjardins on his team’s 23-14-3 mark after 40 games. (Note: The Canucks were 23-11-6 after 40 last season under John Tortorella.)

NEXT UP: Canucks at Predators

RECENT FORM

The Canucks have lost two straight and are 3-3-1 since returning from their Christmas break. On the road, they are 1-2-2 in their last five, the lone victory a 3-1 decision on Dec. 30 in San Jose. The Predators above, are enjoying a tremendous season and are tied for first overall with 60 points. They have won three straight and are 6-0-2 in their last eight. They are a dominant 16-2-1 on home ice and have won five straight at Bridgestone Arena.

WHO’S HOT?

The Canucks have killed 10 straight opposition power plays and 47-of-50 in their last 16 games, an excellent efficiency rating of 94 per cent … Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne, above, is having a Vezina Trophy-type season and leads the league in wins (28) and, before Monday’s game, stood second in GAA (1.98) and third in save percentage (.930) … Preds’ forward Filip Forsberg is the league’s top scoring rookie with 38 points. He is also the Preds’ leading point-getter.

WHO’S NOT?

The entire Canuck roster, which has scored one goal in the last seven periods (Daniel Sedin on Roberto Luongo) … RW Zack Kassian has no points in six games and no goals in 16 games … C Nick Bonino has one goal in 10 games … LW Shawn Matthias has one goal in 12 games ... LW Chris Higgins, above, has one goal in 16 games … RW Jannik Hansen has one goal in 18 games … D Luca Sbisa has no points in 17 games.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Canucks and Predators have met once this season, on Nov. 2 at Rogers Arena, with Nashville prevailing 3-1. The Canucks led the game 1-0 after 20 minutes and it was tied 1-1 after two periods. The Preds outshot the Canucks 33-27 with Rinne besting Eddie Lack in the goalie matchup. Forsberg, above, scored twice, his second standing up as the winner. The Canucks were 1-for-3 on the power play while Nashville went 1-for-4.

QUOTABLE

“I think Pekka Rinne has made a difference for a number of years there. He wasn’t healthy last year, I don’t think, so this year they have more consistency (in goal). I think their defence has always been good. It’s really, really solid and they’ve got some new guys in. I think Mike Ribeiro, above, has helped them. He’s motivated, he’s playing hard and he’s a key guy offensively. He can create for you.” — Canuck head coach Willie Desjardins on the Predators.

Elliott Pap, Vancouver Sun

epap@vancouversun.com