Sometimes all you can fairly say about a game is “Wow.”
With an opportunity to grasp a stranglehold lead in their first-round series against the Nashville Predators on Sunday afternoon, the Vancouver Canucks looked dead in the water.
Casey DeSmith was a surprise absence from Game 4, as the club kept him out of the lineup in favour of Arturs Silovs due to an injury that the veteran Vancouver backup reportedly sustained late in Game 3. While Silovs played well, it was a blow to the club sustained before the puck even dropped.
And then the game began and after Vancouver scored first, it was all Nashville. The game seemed to turn against the Canucks when Quinn Hughes was double hit by a pair of Predators forecheckers and appeared to be in significant distress on the Vancouver bench. Hughes missed a shift, and through two periods was the low-man among all Vancouver defenders in time on ice.
Unsurprisingly, Nashville suddenly started generating off of the rush as Vancouver limited Hughes’ role. That proved decisive in the second period, as the Predators capitalized off of one of their three two-on-one opportunities, with Gustav Nyquist out-waiting Silovs and giving the Predators their first lead. Nashville would pad their lead on another rush opportunity four-on-four early in the third period.
Vancouver looked finished at that point, as the Predators continued to control the third period with a two-goal lead. Even Vancouver’s 3-2 goal late in the third period felt more like a dead-cat bounce than the start of an epic rally.
Hockey, however, is funny sometimes. Games and series and careers and fates can turn on a dime. And perhaps that’s what happened on Sunday afternoon in Nashville.
The Predators seemed to be in control. They were playing in Vancouver’s end of the rink. When the Canucks first pulled Silovs, the Predators easily foiled their entry attempt, and sprung a rush chance for Colton Sissons against an empty net. Hughes, however, stayed in position and interfered just enough with the shot that Sissons cut it just too fine. His shot hit the post, preserving a chance for Vancouver.
It opened the door for a dramatic Boeser goal, a marvel of persistence with the clock winding down, which tied the game 3-3 with just 6.2 seconds remaining in the contest.
The momentum they generated was too much. It took just 62 seconds of overtime for Elias Lindholm, quiet all game, to score the Game 3 winner in overtime.
And with that stunning rally, Vancouver has seized a 3-1 lead and full control of this series.
They’ve done so in the most unlikely fashion imaginable. They won Game 1 after trailing going into the third period, won Game 3 despite taking just 12 shots on goal and won Game 4 despite trailing and being outplayed significantly until the dying seconds. They’ve won despite star players like Elias Pettersson struggling, a key third-line that’s been missing in action since Game 1 and injuries to two different goaltenders. They won on Sunday despite significantly limiting Hughes’ minutes relative to our expectations, perhaps due to a nagging injury.
Now they’re one win away from advancing to the second round, with an opportunity to end this series before making the 6,500 kilometre round trip back to Nashville for Game 6. It’s also an opportunity to earn their starting netminder and Norris Trophy candidate defender a chance to rest up and recover.
The Canucks have done it. They’ve got a 3-1 vice grip on this series now. And they’ve pressed the Predators to the brink, in unlikely fashion.
The set play and the Predators’ push back
The Canucks scored on their first shot on goal for the second straight game, and their 13th time this season on Sunday afternoon.
If you’re citing that statistic, however, for the purpose of suggesting that Vancouver has been unduly fortunate as finishers, this goal is one that you should leave out of the sizzle reel.
This was a beauty. It was, flat out, a perfectly executed and well-considered set play off of an offensive zone draw.
FIRST SHOT, FIRST GOAL! 🚨
Brock Boeser gives the Canucks the early lead. pic.twitter.com/0r7z7wy1kL
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 28, 2024
To caption the play, Miller won the draw to the left point cleanly and Carson Soucy acted as if he were going to feed Ian Cole for the one-timer. Cole, who has been playing the right side, is the only Canucks defender that this play can work with. Unless the defenders switch for the draw, the club’s other right-side options aren’t one-timer options in this scenario.
The fake one-timer pulls Predators left winger Cole Smith up high, causing him to vacate the space into which Soucy sends a seam pass to J.T. Miller.
While all of this is happening and attracting the attention of Predators defenders, Boeser remains nearly motionless at the left side half wall. He passively and sharply gets himself lost on this play, as the duress placed on Predators defenders from the dual threat that is “Miller with possession in the high slot” attracts their attention.
By the time Miller sends the cross-seam feed to Boeser, Juuse Saros is already beat.
This was even prettier in reality than it looked on the whiteboard.
The Predators’ puck pressure on the next shift forced Quinn Hughes to bobble the puck. As Nashville got set up and let a point shot fly, Mark Jankowski tipped the puck to tie it.
Over the final 10 minutes of the first, Nashville’s aggressive forecheck forced Vancouver’s defencemen into icings, turnovers and sloppy passes. Their forwards repeatedly targeted Hughes physically, who again had a challenging start. Nashville started to stack more offensive zone shifts and the momentum began turning. Vancouver still packed the slot defensively and disrupted enough shooting/passing lanes to limit Nashville’s chances but they didn’t control a lot of possession.
Credit the Predators for not folding after Vancouver’s quick start.
Hits piling up on Quinn Hughes
The NHL has gotten far better at tracking real-time statistics over the past 18 months. The numbers are closely audited now, as we saw in midseason when the league added a whole whack of hits to various players’ — including Canucks forward Dakota Joshua — stat totals after further review.
Still we have to take them with a grain of salt. In Game 1 of this series, for example, officially Hughes didn’t take a hit. In fact, there were several instances where the Predators managed to tag the characteristically elusive Canucks captain.
In recent games, we’ve seen the Predators ramp up the physical targeting of Hughes. In Game 3, they hit him three times in the first period and again in the second, although Colton Sissons wasn’t credited for a hit that levelled Hughes.
In Game 4, the Predators caught Hughes with a double hit, which caused him evident pain on the bench and caused him to miss a first period shift. And even thereafter, Vancouver appeared to limit Hughes’ minutes.
Big hit on Quinn Hughes. The #Predators have been running #Canucks captain all series. #StanleyCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/71zMjXJPdR
— Derek Van Diest (@DerekVanDiest) April 28, 2024
This is something to monitor. Hughes is Vancouver’s single most important player. Most NHL defenders are products of the environment in which they play, but Hughes makes the environment, and warps the gravity of the game for Vancouver. He’s absolutely essential to so much of what’s made Vancouver such an imposing side this season.
If his ability to create that environment is compromised, Vancouver is going to need just about everyone else to step up and perform at a preposterous level.
Predators finally start generating dangerous rush chances
Nashville was one of the NHL’s most dangerous teams off the rush in the second half of the season. Stylistically, it was a fascinating matchup against the Canucks, who are one of the league’s best at shutting down rush chances.
Through the first three games, the Canucks seemed to have the upper hand in this department. They didn’t surrender many odd-man breaks or high danger chances in transition.
In the second period, the dam finally broke.
Nashville created three two-on-one rush chances in the middle frame, including Gustav Nyquist’s 2-1 goal. That play started with Ian Cole jumping up in the play offensively, creating a chance and then getting caught up the ice.
Shortly after, Hronek got caught deep in the offensive zone making a play too. He ended up taking a penalty on the back check. Late on a power play, the Canucks lost possession and surrendered a two-on-one chance to Kiefer Sherwood, with Silovs standing tall to make a big save.
Nashville’s 3-1 goal, in a four-on-four situation, came off the rush too. Hronek lost an edge off the opening face-off which gave Roman Josi space to skate the puck down the wing. As the play developed, he spun a pass out front to a streaking Filip Forsberg on the weak side, who directed the puck into the net with his skate. Game 4 was the first time this series that the Predators created sustained looks off the rush.
Canucks’ miraculous third-period comeback
Down by two goals with three minutes left to play, the Canucks looked like they were toast. They looked hapless offensively for most of the third period, stuck defending in their own end. It didn’t look like a comeback was in the cards at all.
Miraculously, the Canucks scored twice at six-on-five with their goalie pulled to force overtime.
With about 2:50 left to play, Miller carried the puck downhill like he does on the power play. Nashville’s collapsed into the shooting lane, so Miller improvised and snapped a pass down low to Elias Lindholm. Lindholm sent it across to Boeser on the backdoor; he made no mistake on the beautiful tic-tac-toe play.
The tying goal started with Hughes breaking Sissons’ ankles at the right point. He gave the puck to Miller on the left flank, who fired a shot/pass into traffic. Saros made a strong save as the puck deflected traffic and hit the net. Boeser hit the outside of the post on his first rebound attempt but then pulled the puck back in and converted on his second try.
Hat trick for Boeser. Tie game. Welcome to the drama of playoff hockey.
How Arturs Silovs fared
Thrust into Game 4 on short notice, Silovs held the fort down as well as you could expect from a third-string goaltender.
Nashville’s first goal was a tough redirection from Jankowkski. Nyquist’s 2-1 goal was a terrific top shelf snipe on an odd man rush where his head was up the entire way, with no tells that Silovs could have picked up on.
Along the way, Silovs made a breakaway stop in the first period. He didn’t leave too many bad rebounds and stopped several slot chances throughout the game.
Was he at Thatcher Demko’s level? Of course not. But for a third string goalie, Silovs held up his end of the bargain.
(Photo: Brett Carlsen / Getty Images)
