With the chance to win the series on home ice for the first time since 2011, the Canucks couldn’t find a way to close out the pesky Preds on Tuesday night. It was a much better effort from the team – especially the first 20 minutes that they dominated – but a couple untimely and questionable plays led to Nashville’s 2-1 win. If you want to watch, here are the highlights:
After the elation of game four, the Canucks locker room was much more subdued after game five. But, that’s playoff hockey. Both teams played well enough to win that game, and only one could… a bounce here or there and we’re having a different conversation. Now, the teams head back to Nashville for another elimination game, and for the Canucks a chance to close out this team in their own barn. The Canucks are a young team, so they’re still learning the highs and lows of playoff hockey and how difficult it’s going to be to send a team packing, so this from Ian Cole is something that's needed:
“Listen, you need to prepare like you're going to play seven games every single series,” Cole said. “If you play less than that, great. If you finish early, great. But be prepared to play seven.
“Whether we want to get on the plane or not? That's just kind of a prima-donna attitude. That's bulls***. Just go and win the freakin' game. Of course, no one wants to fly back across the country, but this is the matchup that we have. If we need to win in six games, you win in six games. If we win in seven games, we win in seven games. We just need to win the series. That's all that matters. We win this series, we move on and then we've got to win the next series. Like, that's all that matters. Whether we do that here, whether we do it Nashville, whether we do that in five games or six games or seven games, it doesn’t matter. Just win the series.”
That veteran mentality and voice is going to be essential for the young guys. They have a couple days off as the next game goes Friday, with travel today and practice tomorrow, so getting everyone back on track should be fine. The focus shifts to just winning the next game.
“It's hard to close in this league,” Zadorov said. “Nashville's a good team. They push back, they stick with it. I feel like we stole it last game in they're building (and) they stole this game here. So I mean, it's on us to go out there and play our best hockey.”
The Canucks played their best hockey in the first period, before Nashville switched it over in the second with the third being a more even affair. Overall, the stats were pretty close in shots, blocks, hits… it just boiled down to finishing your chances, which the Canucks didn’t do. Silovs played well and gave the team every chance to win, but when you only get one goal (from a defenseman no less) it’s hard to win a game, let alone a series. When asked about this all being avoided if the Canucks just finished their chances, Cole just replied, “Yes.”
“Shooting more. Get the puck down there (to the crease). Get some greasy goals,” is what Hoglander thinks is needed. The Canucks though need more out of him and his line. They played better this game, but it wasn’t enough to have a discernible impact on the outcome.
And the power play, which went 0 for 2 with zero shots?
“Our power play was awful,” J.T. Miller said. “We have to look in the mirror as a group. We could have been a factor in the game, and we weren’t.”
It still feels like the Canucks aren’t firing on all cylinders, like they’re sputtering trying to get everyone up to speed. They’re leaning heavily on one line to do the heavy lifting, and while their defensive game is great, they're lacking in their attack and sustained pressure.
“I think there's shifts where we're good, and then we just, you know, kind of play into their hands for a couple of shifts,” Lindholm said after the game. “We have one good shift and then we're a little sloppy for a couple shifts. We've got to put 60 minutes together, and so far we haven't done that.”
It’s also difficult when there is some suspect officiating happening. The first Nashville goal was questionable as Silovs got pushed into the net with the puck (Tocchet wasn’t sure how the NHL would call it, thinking it was at best 50-50 so decided not to challenge), but it came on a power play that – from all the other hits and runs and charges though the series – wasn’t really in line with how everything else was called. The players noticed.
“I feel like, it's the NHL playoffs (and) every person on the ice should be sharp, not just the players,” Zadorov said of the penalty call on Joshua. “I don't know what Dakota is supposed to do? He's backchecking, finishing the guy. (Evangelista has) been dodging hits for five games straight. You’ve got to protect yourself. I'm trying to find the words so I don't get fined $25,000. Obviously, the players are responsible for what they do on the ice. But also there's a few other people on the ice.”
The Canucks are still in a good spot, up 3-2 in the series, and can get their post-season back on track Friday night in Nashville. Time to bear down and win this thing.
Until then, comments:
(Quotes from MacIntyre, Patrick Johnston, and NHL.com)
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