Who’s the starter? Casey DeSmith is healthy enough to serve as backup. That would likely mean Arturs Silovs will see the net again in Game 5
Published Apr 30, 2024 • Last updated 4 hours ago • 4 minutes read
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Vancouver Canucks vs. Nashville Predators
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Round 1, Game 5, NHL playoffs
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When and where: Tuesday, 7 p.m., Rogers Arena
TV: SN Pacific. Radio: Sportsnet 650
The buzz: The longer it goes, the harder it gets.
There’s a franchise history here of how hard it is to escape the opening round of the playoffs. A most memorable run to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final started by blowing a 3-0 series lead to the Blackhawks. It was Chicago captain Jonathan Toews who stated: “We haven’t exposed them for who they are yet.”
And they did.
The Canucks were hammered in Games 4 and 5, and lost Game 6 in overtime. They needed the extra-session heroics of Alex Burrows to ‘Slay the Dragon’ in Game 7 to move on and not have the team dismantled in the off-season.
Getting to the Cup Final meant not tripping over the first series’ hurdle. What does this all mean for Tuesday at Rogers Arena? It means everything.
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The Canucks have been outplayed for stretches of their first four games against those pesky Predators. Their shots have been limited. Quinn Hughes has been targeted. They’ve had to use three goalies.
On Tuesday morning, Rick Tocchet tried to play coy as per customary protocol with naming a starting goaltender. He said it was a game-time decision.
The Canucks head coach also said injury status is an obvious decision factor, but did admit that Casey DeSmith was healthy enough to serve as the back-up in Game 5. That would likely mean that Arturs Silovs will see the net again as Thatcher Demko continues to recover from a knee injury.
It would be a prudent play. Silovs deserves another start and DeSmith needs to be 100 percent healthy when he returns.
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The Canucks needed the late-game, goalie-twice-pulled scoring magic of Brock Boeser on Sunday to force OT and prevail 4-3 to take a 3-1 series’ stranglehold.
It wasn’t pretty. They opened the scoring but struggled to accumulate shots. Their 71 shots through four games are an NHL-low for a first-round series.
If anything, the Canucks have been true to their season-long mantra of resilience.
“There have been times where we’ve shown a lot of character,” said Boeser. “That prepared us for this moment. The message is you can’t give up until the final horn and we didn’t give up there.”
Boeser’s efforts at 17:11 and 19:52 of the third period capped an unforgettable night.
“We’ve had a few scenarios this season where we’ve got some 6-on-5 goals,” added Boeser. “We kind of know the looks that we want. Sometimes they go in and sometimes they don’t. Luckily, they went in tonight.”
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Boeser finished with eight shots and 12 attempts Sunday and joined select company. Geoff Courtnall (twice), Trevor Linden, Pavel Bure and Doug Halward have also recorded post-season hat tricks.
All that good got them to a place where Elias Lindholm scored at 1:02 of overtime on a sweet feed from Conor Garland. Lindholm was a monster in the faceoff circle by going 15-for-20 (75 percent), but a short memory will go a long way in Game 5.
The Predators have plenty of pluck. They get through the neutral zone in waves and cause plenty of havoc. They make zone entries difficult, close down lanes and willingly drop in front of shots. They won’t be an easy out and have too many with playoff experience.
The hope: More than one line can bend the twine. JT Miller and Boeser were fabulous Sunday. Miller had three assists and went 12-for-21 in the circle (57 percent).
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Elias Pettersson had another rough night. Nothing to show on the board with no shots and not even a shot attempt. Looks rattled. Needs a goal in the worst way. If his line scores Tuesday, it might get him more engaged.
“If there’s one thing, he’s thinking too much and all these different things,” Tocchet said Monday. “Just keep moving your feet. If he does, everything comes. Watch (Connor) McDavid or (Nathan) McKinnon, they move their feet constantly and are threats everywhere.”
The fear: Hughes was the meat in a Predators’ forechecking sandwich in Game 4. In a 12-second span of the first period, he was hit hard twice — including a double-team — and went to the bench in discomfort and missed a shift. The Canucks need to hold up the Preds better. And Hughes needs to make adjustments. He spoke to that following the game-day Tuesday.
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“They (Predators) are doing their job and that’s why they’re playing well,” said Hughes, who admitted that the early double-hit took the wind out of him. “I feel really good. I feel excited for tonight and it’s a great opportunity. Try to take advantage of it.
“First two games here, I didn’t get hit and felt I played well. Obviously, a little bit of different story in Game 3 and 4. In Game 3, we only had 12 shots and really defended the whole game. In Game, 4 it was similar where they were taking it to us. If we can play better, those things will be eliminated.”
The injured: Canucks: Thatcher Demko (knee, week-to-week). Predators: Spencer Stastney (upper body, day-to-day).
The quote: “We’ve got some work to do. We’re losing battles. We’ve got to get some guys in the fight.” — Tocchet
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The lineup:
Suter-Miller-Boeser
Hoglander-Pettersson-Mikheyev
Joshua-Lindholm-Garland
Di Giuseppe-Blueger-Lafferty
Hughes-Hronek
Soucy-Myers
Zadorov-Cole
The prediction: The Canucks can’t let the Predators off the playoff mat. They strike early, get another power-play goal and seal it with an empty-netter in a 4-2 win.
(What’s your prediction for tonight’s game? Tell us in the comments.)
GET YOUR CANUCKS PLAYOFF POSTERS: We are proud to partner with the Vancouver Canucks to bring you this year’s edition of the longtime Province tradition, the Canucks Playoff Poster series. CLICK HERE to get a new player poster emailed to you every game day!
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