Canucks news: Vancouver eliminates Nashville and sets up second round with Oilers

May 4, 2024 Vaseline stjohnson 0

Nashville, Tennessee (AP) –

Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.

Nashville had one last chance to force overtime on a power play with 33.9 seconds left after Elias Lindholm was called for checking on Gustav Nyquist. But the Predators couldn’t beat rookie goaltender Arturs Silovs before time expired, and Nashville captain Roman Josi crashed his stick onto the ice.

Silovs made 28 saves to become the 14th rookie goaltender in NHL history to finish a series without a shutout and just the fifth in 30 years. He joined Akira Schmid (2023), Matt Murray (2017 vs. Nashville in the Stanley Cup Final), Carey Price (2008) and Ilya Bryzgalov (2006) in that select group.

Vancouver will play Edmonton. The Oilers finished second to the Canucks in the Pacific Division and beat the Los Angeles Kings in the first round.

The Canucks continued the streak started in Game 2 in which the visiting team won each of the last five games. They won their first playoff series outside the pandemic bubble since 2011, when Vancouver reached the Stanley Cup Final, a run that included a Game 6 victory over the Preds in Nashville.

The Predators have lost six straight playoff games at home, taking some shine off the franchise’s reputation as Smashville. They haven’t won a postseason series since 2018 after winning the Presidents Trophy a season after Nashville’s unexpected run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017.

Suter scored just his second of the series from the front on a pass from Brock Boeser.

Vancouver outshot Nashville for the first time in this series after being held to 92 combined shots in the first five games. That was the second-fewest in a five-game playoff series since 1960, trailing only Washington (90) in the 1998 Eastern Conference semifinals.

Silovs entered the fray when Vezina Trophy finalist Thatcher Demko was declared week-to-week with an injury after winning Game 1. Casey DeSmith started Games 2 and 3 before her own injury, then Silovs made her postseason debut, winning Game 4 for a 3-1 lead.