Canucks pull off comeback, beat Predators in OT to take 3-1 series lead
Elias Lindholm scored just one minute and two seconds into overtime and the Vancouver Canucks came all the way back to beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 in Game 4 of the teams’ first-round playoff series on Sunday.
The Canucks now hold a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, with the series shifting back to Vancouver for Game 5 on Tuesday.
Brock Boeser opened the scoring 2:55 into regulation, then dug Vancouver out of a two-goal deficit with a pair of goals in the final three minutes of the third period. J.T. Miller contributed three assists.
Mark Jankowski replied with a first-period tally for Nashville before Gustav Nyquist gave the Predators the lead in the second and Filip Forsberg added a goal early in the third.
Juuse Saros made 16 saves for Nashville and Arturs Silovs — in his first-ever NHL playoff appearance — stopped 27 of 30 shots for Vancouver.
The 23-year-old Latvian is the third goalie to play for the Canucks during the series after all-star netminder Thatcher Demko went down with undisclosed injuries after Game 1. He is considered week-to-week.
Backup Casey DeSmith took over for Games 2 and 3, going 1-1-0 in the two contests with a 2.02 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. What kept DeSmith out of Game 4 remains unclear.
Injuries began to pile up as the first period wore on.
Midway through the frame, Roman Josi took a deflected puck off the ear. He stayed on the ice, despite blood dripping down his neck, until an official sent him to the locker room for repairs. He did not return in the first but was back for the second.
Quinn Hughes appeared to get hurt about 16 minutes into the second when he got sandwiched in twin hits by Jason Zucker and Colton Sissons along the end boards. The Canucks captain headed straight to the benched doubled over and was limited to just 24:09 in ice time.
Vancouver’s Tyler Myers fell to the ice 17:28 into the game after a shot from Nashville centre Tommy Novak deflected up into the big defenceman’s visor. Trainers came out to look at Myers but he got up on his own and went down the tunnel, before returning for the middle frame.
The Canucks pulled Silovs in favour of an extra attacker with 3:21 left on the game clock.
The advantage paid off when Boeser put a shot in past Saros 17:13 into the period for his second goal of the game, cutting Vancouver’s deficit to 3-2.
With Silovs out of the net yet again, Boeser put a puck off the post, collected his own rebound and tucked it in past Saros to complete his hat trick with eight seconds left in the game.
Lindholm sealed the victory with a quick snipe past Saros 1:02 into the extra frame, marking his second goal of the playoffs.
Both sides went 0-for-2 on the power play Sunday. The Canucks have killed off 14 straight penalties.
Nashville defenceman Dante Fabro played his first game of the series. He slotted in for Spencer Stastney, who left Game 3 with an upper-body injury and is considered week to week.
