*Photo from TSN*
Vancouver wins series 4-2
How's that for some late game magic? Arturs Silovs had a memorable game in net, Pius Suter scored the deciding goal, and the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Nashville Predators with a 1-0 victory Friday night in Nashville.
The Canucks had a dramatic flair to end this series, with the one goal of the game coming in the final minutes of the game to send the Predators packing. They handed the Predators their 6th straight loss at home in the playoffs as they made it to the second round in a full season for the first time since 2011.
Canucks defenseman and captain Quinn Hughes said of the win that "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."
Both the first and second periods were scoreless as the game became a defensive showdown, with the only goal not coming until very late in the 3rd period. It was Suter who played hero for the Canucks, scoring with 1:39 left in regulation to make it a 1-0 lead for the Canucks with assists going to Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson.
Making his 3rd straight start for the Canucks was Arturs Silovs, picking up his second win in the 3 games. Silovs stopped all 28 shots the Predators sent his way for his first NHL shutout, and it came at a pretty good time.
Coming into the series as the 3rd goalie, Silovs became the backup when Thatcher Demko got injured and was thrust into the starting job when Casey DeSmith went down. He became the 14th NHL rookie goalie to end a series in shutout fashion and the 5th in the last 30 years.
Vancouver head coach Rick Tocchet said of Silovs that "Even when he was up as the third goalie, he was in practice and he works on his game. He’s juggling. He does these routines for hours in the hallway. You can just tell the moment is not too big. He’s calm in the net. I mean, this is the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and you’re the third goalie and you’ve got to go in there. That takes a lot of, you know what I’m saying, to do that and have the guys have confidence in him."
Getting the start for the Predators was once again Juuse Saros, who was outdueled by an unlikely opponent in Silovs for the Canucks. Saros turned aside 28 out of the 29 shots on goal the Canucks tested him with, good for a .966 save percentage.
Predators alternate captain Ryan O'Reilly said of the loss that "We got caught back on our heels a bit. I don’t know if it was kind of just frustration of not kind of generating anything, but they made a strong push back. It was too late. They got a big goal, and we just didn’t take the momentum back like we needed to. Give them credit, they played us well. It stings."
The Canucks advance to the second round and await a matchup with a Pacific Division rival in the Edmonton Oilers. The Predators start their summer earlier than hoped.
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