VANCOUVER -- While the Nashville Predators’ power play was among the best in the NHL over the final two months of the season, the Vancouver Canucks’ penalty kill also found its stride after a slow start.
Those improvements paid off for the Canucks after struggling initially in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round at Rogers Arena on Sunday. Ryan O'Reilly converted the Predators’ first power play for a 2-1 lead 10:46 into the second period, but Vancouver killed off the final three Nashville power plays, allowing one shot on each opportunity.
The penalty kill kept it close until Pius Suter and Dakota Joshua scored 12 seconds apart midway through the third period to spark a 4-2 win and the early lead in the best-of-7 series entering Game 2 in Vancouver on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS2, ESPN2, BSSO).
“It's a mindset for the guys that are out there,” Canucks forward Teddy Blueger said. “We know we've got to do a job for the team and that was a critical point in the game, especially right after 2-1. If they go up 3-1 it sucks the air out of the building a little more, so we knew it was a big situation and we were able to get it done.”
The penalty kill finished 17th at 79.1 percent this season, but ranked ninth in the NHL after Dec. 1 at 80.5 percent. The Canucks finished with 13 straight kills over the final four regular-season games after forward Elias Lindholm, who was added in a Jan. 31 trade with the Calgary Flames, returned from a wrist injury.
That wasn’t often the case over the previous two seasons for Vancouver.
The Canucks nearly matched the Los Angeles Kings’ all-time futility record on the penalty kill (68.2 percent in 1979-80) at 65.9 percent through 46 games last season, but improved after coach Rick Tocchet was hired Jan. 22, 2023. They finished at 71.6 percent, still last in the NHL.
Vancouver was also last on the penalty kill over the previous two seasons combined (73.2 percent) and hadn’t been above 80 percent in any of the past three seasons despite employing three coaches over that time.
Improving that was a big reason why the Canucks signed Blueger and Suter, as well as defensemen Carson Soucy and Ian Cole as free agents last summer after trading for defenseman Filip Hronek from the Detroit Red Wings last season.
“To me the personnel has really helped,” Tocchet said. “Give [general manager] Patrik [Allvin] a lot of credit, getting those type of guys has helped us.”
Not panicking after O’Reilly scored on the Predators’ first chance was key. No adjustments were needed, said Soucy, because the Canucks have built faith through the season in how they kill penalties.
“It’s nice to have that confidence we can go get it done,” Soucy said. “There's a willingness to sacrifice but also a confidence in each other and where we're going to be on the ice. That comes throughout the year of sticking with it. We've pretty much done the exact same kill for 83 games now, so I think it's the confidence of knowing where our forwards are going to be, where our defense is going to be what our responsibilities are. Consistency has been a big part of it.”
It won’t get easier against a Predators’ power play that finished the season 16th in the NHL at 21.6 percent but ranked second at 27.2 percent since the All-Star Break.
Nashville coach Andrew Brunette and defenseman Roman Josi said after the game Sunday that the power play moved the puck too slow after scoring on their initial chance, and pledged to be better.
“Maybe we didn't have the urgency or pace we should have in those situations,” Brunette said Monday. “Especially, the two of them at the end of the second period there where you get one it changes the whole complexity of the game. … Usually that's when our power play is at its best. So, it is what it is. We got one and we'll work on it and hopefully be a little better.”
