The Vancouver Canucks fell 2-1 to the Nashville Predators in Game 5
Despite a strong effort, the Vancouver Canucks fell 2-1 in Game 5 to the Nashville Predators. Nikita Zadorov scored the only goal for the Canucks, while Artūrs Šilovs made 20 saves in the loss. With the defeat, Vancouver will now have to travel back to Nashville, where they will look to end the series Friday night in Game 6.
While the Canucks did a good job of generating chances, they once struggled to get pucks on the net. Their power play was also problematic, as they recorded zero shots on their two chances. Overall, this was a missed opportunity and one that hopefully not cost the team in this series.
As for a positive from this game, the Canucks were very strong in their own zone. They held the Predators to 22 shots, with most of them being classified as low danger. While it is once again a frustrating loss, Vancouver can take pride in the way they defended and the performance from Šilovs.
Quotes
J.T. Miller on the Canucks loss:
"Yeah, it just sucks. We had a chance to close. At home with a lead, I gotta be better there on the last hold, and then it's just a couple of guys got behind me tonight. The margins are obviously close, and every little mistake is going to cost you this time of year. It is what it is. It's going to be a hard-fought series. We didn't think certainly, coming into the series, it was gonna be a five-game. We expected it to be a long series, and they played well tonight."
Nikita Zadorov on Dakota Joshua's penalty for a hit on Luke Evangelista:
"I feel like it's NHL playoffs. Every person on the ice should be sharp, not just the players. I don't know what Dakota (Joshua) is supposed to do with his back-checking, finish the guy. The kids have been dodging us for five games; you go to protect yourself? Trying to find the words so I don't get fined $25,000 here, but everybody saw it. Like I said, it's obviously the players responsible for what they do on the ice, but also there's the other people on the ice responsible for it. It's the Stanley Cup playoffs; it just can't happen."
Rick Tocchet on the power play:
"The execution wasn't good. We got to put them under pressure and sometimes you just take what's given. I don't know what we were doing. We're throwing the puck in the middle. We just chipped it to a guy a couple of times. It's learning lessons in playoffs. Under pressure, you got to be able to make those plays."
Rick Tocchet on Artūrs Šilovs:
"I thought he played really well. The moment was not too big for him. He's solid in net. We have belief for him. Yeah, I thought he was excellent."
Facts and Stats
- Nikita Zadorov scores in his 50th career playoff game
- The Canucks record a faceoff win percentage below 40% for the second time this series
- Vancouver records 20 or fewer shots for the third time this series
- Canucks record a series high seven takeaways
Scoring Summary
1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
No Scoring
3rd Period
VAN: 3:11- Nikita Zadorov (2nd) from Quinn Hughes
NSH: 7:15- Roman Josi (1st) from Filip Forsberg and Tyson Barrie (PPG)
NSH: 12:46- Alexandre Carrier (1st) from Gustav Nyquist and Filip Forsberg
Game 6: Friday, May 3 @ TBD from Bridgestone Arena
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