Bruins vs Red Wings

The Vancouver Canucks surprised a lot of preseason prognosticators by finishing second in the Pacific Division one season after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Once the playoffs started, however, things felt all too familiar.

Vancouver struggled to convert scoring chances, especially close to the net, came unraveled on the road and lost its Western Conference First Round series against the Calgary Flames in six games, leaving the Canucks 3-14 in the playoffs since Game 5 of their loss to the Boston Bruins in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.

Here are five reasons the Canucks were eliminated:

The Nashville Predators lost a tough, fast-paced Western Conference First Round series to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games after spending the majority of the season near the top of the NHL standings. Nashville lost six games in a row heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs and was matched up against a team that has twice won the Stanley Cup in the past five seasons.

The Predators were a young team with eight players making their debut in the playoffs. Their youth showed they have a promising future, but they were unable to solve the Blackhawks.

Nashville was very competitive in the series and outscored Chicago 21-19, but Chicago's depth proved to be too much for Nashville to overcome.

Here are five reasons the Predators were eliminated:

The Calgary Flames were supposed to settle with just making it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In the second season after a significant roster overhaul, they should have been content with just arriving.

But playing with house money proved valuable, as Calgary, making its first playoff appearance since 2009, beat the Vancouver Canucks in six games in the Western Conference First Round. It's the first playoff series win since 2004 and the second time going beyond the first round since winning the Stanley Cup in 1989.

Here are five reasons the Flames advanced to the second round:

The Calgary Flames changed goaltenders in the first period of Game 6 of their Western Conference First Round series Saturday, replacing Jonas Hiller with backup Karri Ramo after the Vancouver Canucks scored on two of their first three shots.

Brandon McMillan gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead when he beat Hiller 2:36 into the game. Jannik Hansen weaved into the Calgary zone and took a shot from the slot that beat Hiller at 7:32.

Coach Bob Hartley replaced Hiller with Ramo at that point. Ramo allowed two goals on 19 shots, and the Flames rallied for a 7-4 win that ended the series.

VANCOUVER -- Ryan Miller has always been a perfectionist.

The Vancouver Canucks goaltender will spend hours fidgeting with every aspect of his equipment, even driving an hour out of his way after a recent Stanley Cup Playoff practice to visit a hockey store in search of new options. The same thing goes for his game and style tweaks made in his first season with Canucks goaltending coach Roland Melanson.

Miller is meticulous in his preparation, but it wasn't possible for him to take his usual approach given he was a late entry into an emotionally charged Western Conference First Round series against the Calgary Flames.

Coming off a right-knee injury that kept him out most of two months, Miller came on in relief of Eddie Lack in Game 4 on Tuesday, and then made his first playoff start with the Canucks on Thursday with Vancouver down 3-1 in the best-of-7 series. Forget no margin for error -- Miller had little of the timing and rhythm his game has relied on for so long. His knee wasn't even 100 percent.

For an admitted perfectionist, it was far from ideal.

"Oh yeah, I felt that," Miller said. "It's an odd situation for me not to have the flow and timing. You generally get this deep into the season and you have a lot of games under your belt. I am just trying to take the approach it's all about the mentality at this point. It's not about timing. It's not about the physical side of things. It's all about mentally: Can I get into the fight, and how long can I stay there?"

VANCOUVER -- The veteran players on the Vancouver Canucks talked a lot this season about proving that 2013-14 was a blip, one bad season with an ill-fitting coach that left them out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

They backed those claims by getting into the playoffs, but a lot of familiar themes have resurfaced. As a result, the Canucks face elimination in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; CNBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

Vancouver is 2-13 in the playoffs since winning Game 5 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins, and the inability to score has been a constant no matter how much else may have changed.

"We're a totally different team," captain Henrik Sedin insisted. "We got young guys coming up and playing well for us. We’re a four-line team. That's the way we’ve been winning this year. So it's not even close to being the same as in the past."

Vancouver Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows was transported from Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary in an ambulance following the morning skate in preparation for Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round series against the Calgary Flames.

Burrows appeared to injure himself during the morning skate, leaving before his teammates and being followed to the dressing room by medical personnel.

Vancouver Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller replaced Eddie Lack to start the second period of Game 4 in their Western Conference First Round series against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.

Lack allowed three goals on seven shots in the first period after allowing seven goals in the first three games. The Canucks lost Game 1, won Game 2, and lost Game 3 of the best-of-7 series.

Calgary won the game 3-1, with all the scoring in the first period. Miller made 15 saves in the final two periods.

VANCOUVER -- Rookie center Sam Bennett impressed Calgary Flames coach Bob Hartley with his play Wednesday in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round series against the Vancouver Canucks. He had already impressed Hartley with his character.

Bennett, in his second NHL game, was one of Calgary's best players in the 2-1 victory at Rogers Arena. When asked after practice Thursday about Bennett's performance, Hartley referenced the 18-year-old center's inability to do a single pull-up at the NHL Draft Combine last May. Though it was seen as an indictment of Bennett's fitness and commitment at the time, Hartley now views it as a sign of his character.

"There was many reports the kid was not a good worker and couldn't do pull-ups," he said. "When your shoulder is broken in pieces but you won't tell no one because you are a competitor and you want to be there, that speaks volumes about his character."

Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is Friday in Vancouver (10 p.m. ET; CNBC, CBC, TVA Sports).