NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The motto on the Canucks playoff sweatshirts is resilient; a player chosen slogan that they decided best described this year’s team.
That resiliency was on full display Sunday night in game four as Vancouver rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the final 3:00 of regulation to beat the Predators 4-3 in overtime and take a 3-1 lead in this first round Western Conference series.
Brock Boeser continues to be the biggest star in this series. The Canucks’ leading goal scorer had a hat trick in game four, including the tying goal with :08.2 left in regulation. Elias Lindholm then scored the game-winner on a great feed from Conor Garland behind the net just 1:02 into overtime.
A stunned Bridgestone Arena crowd, which minutes earlier was celebrating what they thought would be a sure victory, solemnly filed to the exits wondering if that could be the last game in Smashville this season.
It was another game in this series with a shocking turn of events. In game one it was two goals in the span of :12 that turned a 2-1 Preds’ lead into a Canucks victory. Nashville managed to win game two 4-1 despite taking incoming blows from a fast and aggressive Vancouver team all night long.
In game three the Predators dominated the five-on-five chances but got just one goal past Casey DeSmith and gave up two power play goals in a 2-1 defeat.
Game four was the best effort of the series – by either team. The Predators controlled offensive zone possession and had a 30-14 edge on shots before the Canucks’ late flurry. Mark Jankowski’s first period deflection of a Jeremy Lauzon shot got Nashville going, and the top line contributed goals from Gustav Nyquist and Filip Forsberg made it 3-1.
But for the first time in franchise history the Preds were unable to hold on to a third period lead of two or more goals. Rick Tocchet made the decision to pull goalie Arturs Silovs, the third different Canucks goaltender to win a game in this series, with 3:20 to play, and it paid off quickly. J.T. Miller found Lindholm just to the left of Juuse Saros outside the Preds’ crease.
Lindholm then flipped the puck to Boeser on the weak side of the goal to pull Vancouver within 3-2 with 2:49 to play.
The Predators still looked like they were going to close it out when Colton Sissons corralled a loose puck and skated it into the Vancouver zone towards an empty net, but his backhand shot doinked off the right post, keeping the Canucks alive.
The tie would come on a frantic final sequence that saw Miller shoot the puck past a pair of diving Preds defenders, Saros give up a rebound that brought him out of the crease. Boeser gathered the puck and slammed his first attempt off the side of the cage, only to get it back and stuff it home before Saros could recover. An improbable goal, also coming with the 6-on-5 advantage, to force overtime and change the entire complexion of this series.
You had to imagine it was a difficult scene in that intermission locker room as players played out the what if scenarios in their head and contemplated what should have been a 2-2 series. The overtime didn’t last long enough to even figure out if there was an emotional hangover because the Canucks took advantage of their first opportunity with Lindholm’s goal putting them a win a way from a trip to the second round.
Now it’s time to find out what the Predators are made of. Much like the Canucks they have their own slogan, embroidered on hats at t-shirts. All season long they’ve prided themselves on being relentless, no matter the circumstances, until the time runs out.
The Predators were at their best for 57:00 in game four, demonstrating their relentlessness with a fast game featuring a dogged forecheck and an aggressive offense that again created chances against a good Vancouver defensive team.
It was a winning formula until it all fell apart in those final 3:00.
Now the Preds are going to have to string together at least 180:00 in a row to have a chance to pull off the upset. It is not an impossible task if they continue to find a new level to their game in the way they did in games three and four, but it is certainly unlikely with a long flight to Vancouver Monday and a hostile crowd at Rogers Arena awaiting them in game five Tuesday night at 9 p.m.
The circumstances are now dire, and time is running out. The Predators will need to stay relentless, and perhaps find some resiliency of their own.
The Canucks erased their 3-1 deficit in a stunning 2:41 in game four. It will take three Preds three wins to climb out of the 3-1 series hole they now face in what would be an even more shocking turnaround.
