Predators 2, Canucks 1: Golden opportunities frittered away

Article content

Take your chances when they’re there.

Article content

Sometimes you lose a game you deserve to win, like the Vancouver Canucks did on Tuesday night, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Nashville Predators.

Article content

By winning, the Predators stay alive in the playoffs, but still trail the best of seven first-round series against the Canucks 3-2.

It was a disappointing third period for the Canucks, who came flying out of the gates in the first period and were unfortunate not to come away with a goal in the opening frame.

The same could be said for Nashville in the second period, as the Preds took control of the game’s tempo and dominated play.

The story through two periods was the goalies: Nashville’s Juuse Saros in the first, Vancouver’s Arturs Silovs in the second.

Both were never troubled by the opposition, both came up big when they had to.

Article content

Article content

And they looked calm while doing it.

The third period was like it was from an entirely different game. Again the Canucks came out hard and they got a goal, finally, from Nikita Zadorov, playing yet another huge game.

But the Predators didn’t go away. They got a fortunate bounce to tie the game, with Roman Josi credited with a goal that the Canucks essentially bounced into the net themselves, then got a seeing-eye point-shot by Alex Carrier with just over seven minutes to play to give the visitors a late lead.

Buckle up, there’s two days between now and Game 6 on Friday.

Big Z

“Does it look like I’m built for playoff hockey? Is Conor Garland built for playoff hockey? He plays hard hockey. I think our whole team, our mentality, is built for playoff hockey.” — Nikita Zadorov

Article content

The playoffs are where legends are made.

Welcome to Legend, with a capital L, Nikita Zadorov.

The Vancouver Canucks traded for the giant defenceman earlier this season for nights like tonight, where the very nature of playoff hockey was defined.

Playoff Hockey. Yes, capitalized.

It’s the kind of hockey where the little moments are all big moments; where only hard work matters.

Big hits, big goals. They matter too.

It was a big game for Big Z.

Big Boes moments

Brock Boeser has proven himself to be quite the playoff performer in this series.

He had a hat trick in Game 4.

In Game 5, he had a couple glorious chances, including on a half-breakaway in the third that Saros stayed strong against his forehand-backhand deke to stop, and then a chance on the doorstep late that Saros just got his leg on.

Article content

Lindholm line shift

Shots were 5-1 early in the second, the Predators were pressing hard and then the third line had a shift.

First Garland and Joshua sprang away on a 2-on-1. They didn’t score but the Preds barely hung on.

The canucks kept pressing and Garland made a sweet setup of Lindholm at the side of the net, which Saros barely managed to keep out.

For a moment you thought maybe it would turn the tide of the game.

But instead, Nashville just kept pressing.

Bangin’ first

Rogers Arena has been loud for every game of the playoffs so far, but Tuesday was the loudest yet.

The fans were roaring well before the game, chanting Go Canucks Go during one of the hype videos.

And the energy kept rolling through the first period, as the Canucks pressed and pressed and pressed.

Article content

But they didn’t score.

The fans didn’t care. They just kept cheering.

Power outage

This has not been a good series for the Nashville power play: they were 15-for-17.

They scored their third-period tying goal on the power play, but it was far from a classic, with Josi getting credit for a goal that the Canucks put into their own net.

Of course, on this night the Canucks didn’t help themselves on the power play: both of their opportunities were poor efforts. They had no trouble gaining the zone, but then made poor puck decisions, either weak passes that didn’t hit tape, or too slow to take the space in front of them.

Steady Silovs

Arturs Silovs has been exactly what he wanted to be in these playoffs: ready.

He’s quiet but is already ready to chat.

Article content

He’s developed quite the insight into his craft, not just the technical aspects, but the mental as well.

It’s a bit of “nothing to lose” but also, as he said on Sunday, just be ready to shine.

And he shone again, never looking flustered.

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!

Article content