A stolen game, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in an epic comeback game led the Canucks back home with a 3-1 series lead and a chance to close out the Predators. The Canucks did not play well in Nashville, so hopefully some home cooking will mend what ails them. Closing this series out is going to be a tough task, but if the Canucks are looking for a deep playoff run it’s pretty imperative.
Even though the Canucks didn’t have their A game on Sunday night (or even B game), that actually doesn’t worry Tocchet heading into tonight’s contest.
“From experience, Game 5s are hard, close out games,” Tocc said Monday morning. “I feel more comfortable going into tomorrow’s game because we had an average game — let’s face it. If we had played really, really well, I’d probably be a little bit more nervous tomorrow. I don’t feel nervous. I think we’ll be ready tomorrow to play a lot better than we did last game. And I think that’s a good thing.
“Guys were happy afterwards. We won and everybody was high fiving. Five minutes later, they’re back to the earth. That’s what I love about this team.”
The boys were happy afterwards for sure if you’ve seen the pumped up vids floating around social media. But they’re also aware of how they played.
“It was great to get the win,” Myers said. “Definitely some things to look at. I think we stole one last night but it goes to show how resilient our group is. It was great that we stuck with it.”
The team’s mindset has been a revelation this year in how resilient they are. That comes from the players buying into what the coach is preaching, but for the Canucks it also comes from the GM down.
"It's bizarre, but, you know, when we were going with Arty, and the guys heard it... I don't see anybody walking away going 'Oh my god, what's going on around here?'" Tocchet said of the Canucks' goaltending situation. "I just think, OK. Let's go.
"Allvin’s big thing, when I signed here, he has a big 'next man up' mentality. That's one of his big mantras. He doesn't want to hear, 'Oh poor us'. He hates that. When we told him we were going with Arty, he was like 'OK. Where are we going for dinner?' When your general manager says that to your coach, it really gives you confidence."
Silovs was great when he needed to be on Sunday, so it will be interesting to see if DeSmith is fit enough to play. If not, clearly there is a ton of confidence in the Latvian to pull off another victory.
"He's a gamer," Garland said of Silovs. "He's calm, you couldn't even tell it was his first game. Really excited for him, played well. I saw him this summer, he killed us at Worlds. I saw how talented he was, how agile. He's an athlete — you see it when he's in net, he just competes. He's fun to play for."
Keys to the game today:
1. Forecheck: the forecheck was MIA over the two games in Nashville. Maybe it was a bug floating around the room, maybe it was the atmosphere, maybe it was the Preds just beating the Canucks system. Whatever it was, the Canucks need to spend more time in the Preds zone than they have been – both for their offense to get going, but also to take some weight off their defensemen.
2. Come out with intensity: the Preds aren’t going to roll over, and you know they’re going to come out hard and hit everything they can. The Canucks need to funnel how they played in the final few minutes the other night into a 60 minute effort, and be ready to match how the Preds play.
3. Play fast: it’s how they’re going to beat the Nashville forecheck, it’s how they’re going to win more board battles, it’s how they’re going to basically change their play. Tocc has lamented they’ve played too slow, putting themselves in bad positions and being behind the play more than in front of it. The boys will have to being a half second quicker on decisions and a few feet closer to check and loose pucks to out-work this Preds team.
"The one thing we're hanging our hat on is we're hanging in there defensively," Tocchet said. "Offensively it's in our head right now because they are pressuring us and for whatever reason, we have some guys, it's freezing guys. … You have to think quicker, you got move your feet quicker, and you got to be more decisive with the puck."
Puck drop today is at 7:00 PST.
(Quotes from Courtney Jacobsen, Steve Ewen, and NHL.com)
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