Third string goalie, down 3-1 with minutes left, beaten and bruised and stymied again offensively… you just can’t keep a good team down. The Canucks made an improbable comeback Sunday on the back of Boeser’s hattrick performance for the ages as the boys won 4-3 in overtime. If you missed the game for whatever reason, here are your highlights:
Wow. Wowowowowow. What a comeback. Jubilation for the Canucks as they take a 3-1 series stranglehold. “Speechless” is how the Preds described it. It was a historic win, playoff magic at its finest: how tides can turn so quickly and how momentum swings off bounces.
Brock Boeser was the hero of the day for the Canucks, netting a hattrick in regulation, including two goals in the final few minutes with the goalie pulled – the final tally coming with 6.2 seconds left. That led to overtime heroics of his own from Elias Lindholm, who had been quiet since game one but came through with a massive goal to send the team back to Vancouver with a series lead instead of a tie. Arturs Silovs was pressed into action after Casey DeSmith was ruled out for the game, and he deserves some massive credit too. He made saves when he needed to, and didn’t look out of place at all playing in his first-ever NHL playoff game.
This was not the Canucks’ finest game – far from it. They’ve put up a paltry 71 shots through four games, which is the lowest ever recorded through the start of a series. But, good teams find a way to win, and the Canucks did just that. Their mentality under Tocchet has been superb, becoming a team that doesn’t wither like they have in the past.
"Before we started the playoffs, I asked a couple of guys: What word would you describe this team all year?" Tocchet said after the win. "We wanted to put it on a T-shirt or our hoodies, and they said 'resilient.' That's our word. That worked tonight on that T-shirt, that word for us. It's been like that all year. Certain spots we've been put in (but) somehow we get out of them. It might not look pretty, you know? Like tonight wasn't pretty, and we got out of it somehow."
The Canucks only directed 16 shots on Saros through the first 57 minutes of the game. But just when you need them, the high-end players come through. After the Preds’ Colton Sissons hit the post on an empty net, the Canucks started their comeback with two massive goals by Boeser. His hatty make him the fourth Canuck in team history to get a playoff hat trick, behind Doug Halward (1983-84), Pavel Bure (1991-92), Trevor Linden (1995-96) and Geoff Courtnall, who did it twice (1990-91, 1991-92) (via the Province there). The celebration on the ice after the tying goal said it all. The boys went into the intermission elated, and it took just 62 seconds into OT for Connor Garland to spot a wide open Lindholm to seal the victory.
“I think we're all knowing that so far we haven't played our best,” Lindholm said. “There's been a couple of periods here and there where we've played pretty good. But overall, we haven't been nearly as good as we can. I think today was showing a lot of character on the team, you know, coming back like that the way we did. And hopefully we can build off that.”
The Canucks flew back to Vancouver after the game, and aren’t set to practice Monday before Tuesday’s game. I’m sure there will be some video sessions, though, as for the second game in a row they were outplayed and hemmed in their zone. They’ve been sputtering offensively, and have basically become a one line team since landing in Nashville. The Canucks had 20 shots on goal, and 8 of them came from Boeser.
"Obviously, we've got some things to work on but that three minutes won us the game,” Tocchet said. “You've got to take the positives, but we've got some work to do.
“Generally, the last couple of games, I think they've been a little bit better on battles and skating. I find we're not moving our feet and we're kind of losing some battles. I don't think it's any tactical thing. We've got to get some guys in the fight here a little bit. But it's a lot easier to teach and prod and get guys going when you're winning. So hopefully, this is going to bring some juice to some guys.”
Boeser agreed with Tocc’s sentiments.
"I think we've just got to have that desperation from the start of our next game," Boeser said. "We've got to know that they're a really good hockey team over there. They're strong on pucks and winning puck battles. I think we've talked about it, our forecheck hasn't been good enough. It's been a lot of one and done and you can see they're getting momentum off that, they're breaking pucks out pretty clean right now. We know we need to be harder. So, I think we've got to start there, just digging down and winning our battles."
It’s something that can be seen just watching the game: the Preds are more physical, have more will, and are first to the puck. They’re winning battles and they’re playing faster than the Canucks. Their heavy forecheck is causing fits for a team that wants to control the puck methodically, and the hits are taking their toll – especially on oft-targeted Quinn Hughes. The Canucks need to play faster to beat the forecheck and create their own pressure.
“They are running him,” Tocchet said of Hughes. “That’s playoff hockey and we have to help him out. But if we’re skating quicker and winning battles, they’re not going to have chances to hit. That will help Huggy. Nashville sends three at you. You get into trouble when you hold on to pucks too long.”
But, a win is a win. The Canucks are up 3-1 with the chance to end it Tuesday night at home… which would be a great chance to rest and nurse injuries if they are able to close them out. The boys are happy with the win, but know there’s work to be done, and it won’t come easy.
“That was a pretty special moment for our group,” Miller said of the win. “Especially with them outplaying us for a heavy portion of the game. We’ve shown a lot of no-quit all year and to see Brock and the team get rewarded, we feel really good.
“We have strap them (skates) on a little tighter for the next one. We have elevate our game. We need to be a hell of a lot better than we were today.”
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