NASHVILLE -- Wins have been hard to come by for the home team in the Western Conference First Round series between the Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators.
The road team has won each of the past four games in the best-of-7 series, a trend the Canucks, who can eliminate the Predators in Game 6 at Bridgestone Arena on Friday (7 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT, BSSO, SN, TVAS, CBC), hope continues.
“We’ve been a pretty good road team all year (23-14-4 during regular season), so I think we’re comfortable playing outside of our building,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. “Sometimes we play actually better on the road. This is a tough building. We know there was a couple of games there maybe we didn’t deserve, just like we thought Game 5 (a 2-1 loss in Vancouver on Tuesday) we deserved. It’s one of those series that it doesn’t really matter. It’s who wins the game.”
If the Canucks want to win for the third time in Nashville and close out the series, they are going to need to find a way to play more in the offensive zone.
In Game 3, the Canucks were outshot 30-12 but were able to come away with a 2-1 win thanks to power-play goals from J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser. In a 4-3 win in Game 4, they were outshot 30-21 and needed two goals from Boeser in the final 2:49 of regulation to force overtime, which ended on a goal from Elias Lindholm at 1:02.
However, it hasn't been just on the road that Vancouver has struggled to get shots toward Nashville goalie Juuse Saros.
In total, the Canucks have only generated 92 shots on goal, which is the second-fewest through the first five games of a playoff series since 1960. The Washington Capitals had 90 shots through the first five games of the 1998 Conference Semifinals against the Ottawa Senators, a series they won in five games.
“I think there’s a lot to build on,” Canucks forward Sam Lafferty said. “The intensity is there, the effort is there. Overall, for the most part, the execution is there. It’s just, obviously, we know it’s going to be tough to close these guys out. They’re a good team, and they’re fighting for their lives. We know it’s going to be really hard.”
Tocchet agreed, adding that patience will be key.
“You have to be comfortable in a tight game,” he said. “I think that’s really important. If it’s 0-0 late in the game, even if it’s 1-0 going into the third, I think you’ve got to be very comfortable playing in that and just bide your time for your chances. I think sometimes when you want to close out, you push the envelope too much. The next thing you know you’re giving up odd-man rushes, power plays, things like that.”
