The defining moment of the Vancouver Canucks’ 4-1 loss in Game 2 came early.
The Rogers Arena faithful, trying to create urgency and punch and support the team despite the devastating news of Thatcher Demko’s injury Tuesday, chanted in unison their support for Vancouver Canucks backup goaltender, Casey DeSmith.
“Let’s go Casey!” Let’s go Casey! »
The chant had just begun when a Predators point shot absurdly deflected off Anthony Beauvillier and slid sideways, in the opposite direction as DeSmith was moving. It was the first goal, and about as unfortunate a bounce as the Canucks have had all season.
It was exactly that kind of night for Vancouver. It was a weird game.
The best scoring chances evaporated on broken sticks. Seemingly dangerous scoring chances shook the glass, rather than making the net ripple.
On several occasions, the pucks were free in the crease, but Dakota Joshua and Pius Suter were late by a fraction of a second. The pucks paraboled the Predators defenders, deflecting absurdly off the post. Vancouver’s power play was both reckless and extremely unlucky.
These are the Stanley Cup playoff breaks, where the margins disappear and the whims of the hockey gods reign arbitrarily and with unusual cruelty.
This was a game in which the Nashville Predators took over in the second period, tying the series and wresting home-court advantage away from Vancouver. Everything is level now, as the series returns to Broadway on Friday, for a crucial Game 3.
This is a rare opportunity for NHL players to participate in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a team that is evolving like the Canucks have been all season.
That’s doubly true for longtime Canucks like Demko and Tyler Myers, who spent most of their Canucks careers either outside of the playoffs or, in 2020, when the club qualified for the playoffs, to play playoff games in the artificial, prison-like environment of the Western Phase 4 Secure Zone at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
Demko and Myers had huge performances in the first game. Myers, in particular, was clearly moved by the postgame experience.
For both players, being sidelined in the second game seems remarkably cruel. After all, these are games that can define careers. It is impossible not to sympathize with competitors in this situation.
In Myers’ absence, Noah Juulsen was thrust into action for Vancouver. He logged minutes on the third pair, playing very rarely as Vancouver chased the lead in the third period. Juulsen was fine, but lost a key battle to Filip Forsberg on the goal that gave the Predators a 2-0 lead and was assessed an interference penalty and a slashing penalty, limiting Juulsen’s ability to having an impact on the penalty spot – where he tends to shine the most.
Without a doubt, Vancouver missed Myers’ size and ability in transition in Game 2.
As for DeSmith, the first goal was an absurd rebound. A fluke, although he probably got too involved in the point shooting too soon.
Beyond that, he played well. Nashville’s goals mostly came from high-danger chances – Forsberg with a buttery finish all by himself down low, a rebound on the run where he made the initial, tricky save – but had a few shaky moments on the saves he made where he lost the puck and he underperformed his expected goals saved above average by about a goal and a half.
DeSmith wasn’t to blame for Vancouver’s Game 2 loss — that responsibility should fall more on Vancouver’s power play — but it’s clear that Demko’s absence will be felt in this series and going forward.
In a game filled with strange moments and unfortunate bounces, a play in the second served to characterize an off night for the Canucks offensively.
JT Miller’s line was cooking, but Miller took a moment and flexed his stick against the ice. It was as if he knew he couldn’t be trusted.
As the play moved back to the offensive zone, Miller took up a position along the right half-wall. This is Leon Draisaitl’s office and a dangerous shooting location for a left-handed sniper.
When the puck arrived in Miller’s cross zone, Vancouver’s most dangerous offensive producer was ready to take it on. He went all out in one attempt, but his stick completely shattered when he should have dangerously shot the puck past Juuse Saros.
Power outage on Canucks power play
The Canucks were one of only two teams to win Game 1 of the playoffs without scoring a single power play goal. At some point, the male advantage had to show itself.
The first returns were difficult.
Vancouver failed to generate a single shot on goal in 4:46 of the power play in the first period. The first unit was inconsistent with execution of clean zone entries and setup. Once they got into their formation, they had a lot of blocked shots. They still put together some dangerous looks – Miller managed to make a few threatening cross-court passes to Elias Pettersson – on the first, Pettersson narrowly missed Brock Boeser for a backdoor tap-in and on the second, Pettersson missed a wide open net.
Trailing 3-1 thanks to a power play late in the second period, the Canucks had another chance to regain momentum. Miller’s shot was redirected to Alexandre Carrier in traffic and hit the post, with Vancouver again coming up empty-handed.
The Canucks won’t make the playoffs if the power play continues to fail in key situations.
Elias Pettersson’s hard evening
A lot of eyes were on Pettersson heading into this match. He did not exploit his dynamic and decisive potential in the second half of the regular season. In the first match, he put in a quiet performance. This was partly due to the ineffectiveness of his teammates, partly to his inability to direct the game individually. With Demko out for Game 2, the spotlight was even brighter on Pettersson to step up and make a difference in the top flight.
Everything came down to Pettersson on Tuesday evening.
He took many shots that missed the net or were blocked on the power play. He wasn’t as adept at controlling the puck and passing. And when he had glorious opportunities – like the empty net he missed or the backdoor pass to Boeser that would have been a tap-in – he missed by agonizingly close margins. To make matters worse, he turned the puck over inside his defensive blue line, tripped and couldn’t stop DeSmith’s rebound out of harm’s way, leading to Nashville’s third goal of the second period.
Pettersson needs to create a monster rebound because everything went wrong for him in game two.
Zadorov did everything in his power to push the Canucks forward with his monstrous, assertive two-way performance.
He crushed Roman Josi with a huge hit during a shorthanded zone entry attempt, leading to a successful punt. Late in the first period, he used his long reach to make a key defensive stop while defending the blue line, which ended Nashville’s run and allowed the Canucks to get back up the ice in the other sense. Zadorov made a great pinch in the second period to keep the play alive in the offensive zone, leading to a long and dangerous shift for Vancouver.
Zadorov then gave the Canucks some much-needed life with a wrist shot in traffic that beat Juuse Saros on his blocker’s side, a weakness they repeatedly targeted. He ran the game effectively, with Vancouver holding a good advantage in five-on-five shot attempts during Zadorov’s shifts.
Zadorov was one of the only bright spots on an otherwise frustrating night for the Canucks.
(Photo: Derek Cain / Getty Images)