Predators get defensive, even playoff series with Canucks

In the aftermath of Game One in this NHL Stanley Cup First Round playoff series, the Predators lamented the fact they had done a lot of things right, but failed to come away with a victory.

In Game Two, the situation reversed itself.

The Predators managed a 4-1 win over Vancouver, despite being thoroughly outplayed in two of the game's three periods.

The bottom line, of course, is that the Preds return home with the best-of-seven, first-round series tied 1-1. Nashville now has home-ice advantage in the series, which will be put to the test at Bridgestone Arena on Friday and Sunday in Games Three and Four.

“It’s exciting,” Predators forward Ryan O’Reilly said on the Bally Sports post-game show. “We’ve seen how exciting [Bridgestone] can be during the regular season and I’ve heard it takes it to another level [in the playoffs]. So, excited to get home, be in front of our fans and get this thing going again.”

But as the Predators make their long cross-continent flight back to Nashville, they’ll be trying to figure out how they can improve on an overall performance that — though gritty and tough-minded — wasn’t close to the standards the Preds had played to for much of the past couple months.

Vancouver held an 84-36 edge in shot attempts, nearly doubled the Preds’ scoring chances (39-20) and finished with an expected goals figure of 3.34 — compared to Nashville’s 2.39.

In the third period alone, Vancouver had 37 shot attempts to the Preds’ 13.

“I think we’ve got some things we have to work on,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “We can be a little bit better with the puck. We’re not contesting pucks quite at the same level that we normally do. When we don’t have the puck and we’re not connected in the offensive zone, we’re going to defend more.”

Most of the Predators’ inspiring play came on the defensive side of the ice.

Nashville killed all four of Vancouver’s power plays, holding the Canucks without a man-advantage goal for the second straight game. Six Preds logged more than three minutes of penalty-killing time — defensemen Jeremy Lauzon, Alexandre Carrier and Ryan McDonagh, as well as forwards Colton Sissons, Michael McCarron and Cole Smith.

The Predators also blocked an eye-opening 30 Vancouver shots, compared to eight for the Canucks. Carrier led the way with six, followed by four each from Sissons and McDonagh.

“I think in the third period, we were committed to the pain, and that’s something that maybe Game One, we learned from a little bit,” Brunette said. “We weren’t quite as committed to the pain, I thought. Tonight with the blocked shots and ... sacrificing our body, we learned. We’re still growing. We’re not where we want to be, but we’re getting better and today was a good stop.”

Goalie Juuse Saros was a huge part of the defensive effort as well, turning back 17 of the 18 shots that made it to the Nashville net. He bounced back from a sub-par performance in Game One, when Saros surrendered two goals that normally wouldn’t have escaped him.

Offensively, the Predators took early advantage of Vancouver back-up goalie Casey DeSmith, who was playing due to the injury suffered by starting netminder Thatcher Demko. Anthony Beauvillier opened the scoring on the game’s first shot on goal, a long-range deflection that actually bounced twice on the ice before rolling past a completely fooled DeSmith.

Filip Forsberg used some dazzling handiwork in close to put the Preds up 2-0 in the second period, Sissons added a rebound goal 1:35 later for a three-goal lead, and Kiefer Sherwood polished off the win with an empty-net goal.

It was hardly a decisive victory, but a critical one nonetheless.

“We defended well, but the third period is definitely not a recipe that we necessarily want to repeat for the whole series,” Forsberg said. “At the same time, [the Canucks] are doing a lot of good things. You got to give them credit. They’re a great team. But at the end of the day, I think the sacrifice and the shot-blocking was the reason [for the win], and phenomenal goaltending as well.”

This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Post.