Lindholm’s OT Goal Lifts Canucks Over Predators, Taking 3-1 Series Lead

The Vancouver Canucks came from behind in dramatic fashion to beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 in overtime.

Brock Boeser had a hat trick, scoring all of Vancouver’s goals in regulation becoming just the fifth player in Canucks’ history to score a postseason hat trick and the first since Trevor Linden in 1996.

J.T. Miller assisted on all of Boeser’s goals.

Head Coach Rick Tocchet was happy with the win and says there are things that they will want to work on for game five.

“Obviously a great effort by Boeser, [scoring] three goals, and a hell of a play on that overtime [goal] so you’ve got to take the positives, but we’ve got some work to do obviously,” Tocchet said.

“We have to get some guys in the fight here a little bit, but it’s a lot easier to teach and prod and get guys going when you’re winning, so hopefully this is going to bring some juice to some guys."

Elias Lindholm scored the overtime winner and credited Conor Garland for finding him with the pass that helped him lock up the game.

“When you score one of those, OT winner, it’s always a good feeling,” Lindholm said.

The Canucks had six shots on net in the third period, but Boeser was able to convert on two of those.

“A lot of goals for us and obviously when we’re down two and pull the goalie, he’s there and he knows how to score goals. This is important for us,” Lindholm said.

Artūrs Šilovs stepped in between the pipes as Casey DeSmith was ruled out due to an injury. Šilovs is the third goaltender to get a win this series, stopping 27 of the 30 shots he faced.

Šilovs said he wasn’t nervous at the start of the game and focused on his details and stopping the puck. 

“I played in Latvia for my hometown and that was the same atmosphere I would say. It just feels great, you know, either they boo you or they’re for you, it’s always great to play [in that atmosphere],” Šilovs said.

“It was fantastic. Tying the game, didn’t have any shots in overtime, we managed to score on the first shot.”

Game Summary

The Canucks scored on their first shot, Brock Boeser connecting from the left circle off a pass from J.T. Miller.

Nashville forward Mark Jankowski evened the score for the Predators on a tip-in from Jeremy Lauzon’s shot, going into the first break tied 1-1.

In the second, Gustav Nyquist scored the Predator’s go-ahead goal on a three-on-two, giving Nashville a 2-1 lead going into the second intermission.

Filip Forsberg deflected a puck home just 12 seconds into the third period, putting Nashville up 3-1. 

The Canucks pulled Šilovs before the two-minute mark and it proved to be successful, Boeser scoring at 17:13 to bring Vancouver within one.

With time winding down, and the Canucks with six skaters on the ice, Boeser took a backhanded shot, collected his own rebound and put the puck in its home to tie the game with 6.2 seconds left in regulation.

In the overtime period, the Canucks carried the momentum from the latter part of the third into extra time. Lindholm scored off a backhand pass from Conor Garland coming just 62 seconds into overtime.

The Canucks’ bench erupted after the goal and they flooded the ice to celebrate with Lindholm and congratulate Šilovs on his first NHL playoff win.

Both teams head back to Vancouver for Game five which will take place on Tuesday, April 30th at 7:00 p.m. PT.