The Vancouver Canucks are in round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after their 1-0 win over the Nashville Predators. And by what other score could it possibly be?
Canucks in Round Number Two With Goalie Number Three
Hockey is – and we’ll never tire of saying it – a game of barely managed chaos. Coaches make what they can predictable, but in a free-flowing game like this? The opportunity to run set plays is a rare and valuable thing. There’s a lot of Don’t Fall Down Too Much in any victory.
Among all the first-round series, this was arguably the one most likely to provide an upset. Nashville has veteran experience, a time-tested goalie, and went on a monstrous points streak late in the year.
Vancouver is, well, who knows what Vancouver is? Is it the astounding team ravaging the league in the first weeks of the season? Or the one struggling to keep the division lead late? In either case, they were playoff neophytes against a team that had missed once in the past decade.
Yes, the Canucks have talent on their side, but talent without the work means nothing. And the Predators know what it means to work. So yes, if there was going to be an upset in the first round, this looked like it.
Losing the strongest argument the Canucks had – Thatcher Demko – muddied the scrying pool further. An injured backup followed and the decision to give Artūrs Šilovs the start made Canucks history. Or repeated it, in any case.
All the Weirdness
When Rick Tocchet harped on “structure” for the team, few thought it would pay off quite so handsomely. But without it, they weren’t getting past a determined Predators squad.
In the first five games of the series, Vancouver managed just a single goal twice. They had a total of 92 shots combined. Despite that, Vancouver held a 3-2 series lead. They didn’t want it to go to Game Six, but unfortunately for them, the other team gets a say.
In the final game, the Canucks opened it up. With no power plays to provide a boost, they got 29 shots past the intervening Predators. Jusse Saros was there for every shot – but one. For such a low-scoring, hard-checking, tightly-played series, the only shutout came in the 1-0 finale.
You know, just like expected! And now the Canucks are in Round Two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Nashville finished with eleven different goal scorers providing twelve goals, Filip Forsberg being the only player with a brace. For Vancouver, J.T. Miller finished as the only player with exactly one goal. The reborn Brock Boeser had four and four other players scored two each.
Oh, and of course the expected goaltending duel between Saros and Demko was expanded to include Šilovs and Casey DeSmith.
How Special
The series ended on a Nashville power play, with four Canucks sprawled on the ice in front of Šilovs. That was a fitting end, with Nashville going 2-for-22 and Vancouver 2-for-13. For such low numbers, special teams decided at least three games.
Vancouver holding Nashville in check as effectively as they did produced victories in games three and six. Nashville forced a sixth game because they finally cracked Šilovs with their PP marker late in Game Five.
You could point to plenty of the Canucks’ free-agent signings made explicitly to improve the penalty kill as a primary cause for them getting past the first round. And you’d be right, at least partially. That improved structure let them use three goalies with little ill effect and should get Rick Tocchet the Jack Adams Award.
The Canucks Round Two 180
Now the Canucks change gears entirely to face a wildly different opponent, the Edmonton Oilers. Despite playing one less game, four Oilers have more points than the Canucks leading playoff scorers. Given the firepower Vancouver also has, this should be a barn burner!
But hidden in their five games was a 1-0 victory of their own, showing that Edmonton can play a tight match when needed.
We’ll get into the details of that match-up closer to puck drop. For now, we say goodbye to the Nashville Predators as they leave the 2023-24 season. Enjoy the Spring and see you on draft day.
Main Photo: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
