And just like that the boys are over the hump and on to round two. Befitting the series, game six was a tight-checking hard-fought affair that could have gone either way. This time, it went the Canucks’ way, and so they take a celebratory plane ride back to Vancouver to host the Oilers for the next round of the playoffs. If you missed the game or just want to rewatch the highlights, here ya are:
Even watching the highlights was stressful. But, the playoff-inexperienced Canucks gained a whole lot of playoff experience in closing out the Predators in game six in their own barn. Going into the third period tied 0-0, it was a matter of who was going to make a big enough mistake first, who was going to capitalize on that chance. It just so happened to break for the Canucks. Pius Suter finished one of his many chances – set up nicely from Boeser after some great board work from Pettersson – and Silovs closed the door completely for the Canucks to eke out a 1-0 shutout win in Nashville. It speaks to the Canucks’ resolution that they won every game they played there.
This was a team that many people had written off last summer, and then at the start of the year, mid-way through the year, at the end of the year, and at the start of the playoffs. Players have been dragged through the mud (Miller, Boeser, Myers to name a few), and a few are being dragged through it right now. But this team – like those players – rebounded, and proved everyone wrong. They seem to relish the underdog role. Suter knew before signing here this team was closer than many people gave credit for.
“[My friends] said, ‘You're going to another team that's not going to make the playoffs,’” Suter said of his summer signing. “I was like, 'No, this team is better than you think. We have guys that are top-five guys in the league at every position.’ It's huge for us to win this series. But we know what people say. Not many believed in us before this season. Probably even less next series.”
Looking at the betting odds, he’s right on that. Miller has been another guy bandied about in trade rumors, but he’s never thought of leaving.
“Not any part of me ever wanted to go somewhere else,” he said. “You don't have Pettersson and Hughes and Demko everywhere, and you don't have Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin and Rick Tocchet and Adam Foote. Why would I want to leave something that I've always been looking for?”
For Miller – and a lot of the other players – it’s been a long climb to get here. But winning in the playoffs is everything.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for the Predators, got some friends on that team,” Miller said after the win. “But to be on the right side of that handshake for the first time, like that's one of the best feelings in hockey. To see how far our team has come -- if you flip through COVID, and then the Bruce (Boudreau) stuff, and the team stuff… and to see the steps and the progress and the process continue to move forward, and now we get a chance to play against a team that we love playing against, I mean, it's everything. I can't wait to go back home and rest up and go again in front of our fans. It means the world to us.”
Myers had a monster game. He’s had a great series. With the Preds pushing to tie it up, the whole team was throwing themselves in any lane to block shots. Myers took a huge block for the team…
“It got me right in the balls,” Myers said smiling. “Guys were desperate. We were laying down and were fortunate to keep it out. I think a lot of playoff hockey is just winning battles. It becomes so much tighter and there’s a lot of one-on-one battles and 50/50s and you’ve got to win as many as you can.”
“It wasn’t easy by any means,” captain Hughes said after piloting the team to its first round one victory since 2011. “I feel like a couple of the games could’ve gone either way, obviously. Tonight can go into that bracket. It’s really hard to win at this level. They compete. They work really hard. They’ve got a lot of pride in their game. We were lucky enough to come out on top.”
It took a lot of will and belief to win against the Preds. They were no slouch, and they played freaking hard. The Canucks never broke, and showed a ton of toughness throughout the series. Sometimes that toughness doesn’t get much airtime, like this story about game- and series-clinching goal scorer Suter:
“Throughout this series, he was always around the net and in scrums and got punched in the head a couple of times,” said Tocchet. “He got a puck in the face. Went to the dentist the next morning. Didn’t get much sleep and had to eat soft food.
“That’s tough hockey. You go through pain and he shows up and scores a big goal for you.”
Toughness is also being the third string emergency AHL goalie thrust into action in the NHL playoffs… and then earning a shutout on top of that in a series-ending game (with 2.67 goals saved above expected!)
“I’m super happy for the kid,” Miller said. “What a crazy scenario he (was) thrown into… I think it’s probably better that he got thrust into the situation. He seems like he’s not overthinking anything. He’s just being himself and taking in as much as he can and having fun with it.”
“I can’t say enough,” Hughes said. “It takes a lot of confidence and belief to get a shutout. It’s impressive, to say the least.”
And with that, the boys are through round one. It’s been a massive turnaround this season, and Jack Adam nominee Tocchet is a huge part of that. Everyone is bought in, everyone is excited, and the team gets to open round two in front of their home fans.
“It means a lot because we've grown as a team,” Tocchet said after the win. “You know, we're not pretty. We are who we are. But we hang in and the guys buy in and, you know, to keep that team to zero (goals), the way we play defence really helps us stay in the games. Would we like more offence? Of course. Hopefully some of those goals will go in for us the next series. But I think the buy-in on the way we play defence is keeping us in it, and has been a fabric for our team this year. We've had our moments, but we don't apologize for who we are.”
And they shouldn’t. They’re here and they deserve to be. Up next is the Oilers, who have way more firepower up front, but don’t play the same type of lock down defense as the Preds do. It will be interesting to see how Vancouver’s defense does against them, and how Vancouver’s offense is able to open up.
The series probably kicks off Tuesday, and as nice as this was, the mindset hasn’t changed.
“But as good as it feels to get a series win, we know we’re not done,” said Myers.
Until the next game, we got comments:
(Quotes from MacIntyre, Patrick Johnston, the Province, and Sportsnet)
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