Playing in Nashville in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is never easy and the last time these two teams met in the post-season, in 2011, the Canucks won all three games at Bridgestone Arena and looked to extend that winning streak to four on Friday night.
Thanks to goals from J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser, as well as a 29-save performance from Casey DeSmith, the Vancouver Canucks were able to pull off a 2 to 1 win over the Nashville Predators to take a 2-1 series lead.
It wasn't the greatest game that the Canucks have played, but they were able to pull out the victory and a huge reason for that was the effort of Casey DeSmith who is standing tall in Thatcher Demko's absence.
During the win however, the Vancouver Canucks set a new franchise record and while they got the win, it's not entirely a mark that Rick Tocchet and his coaching staff will be happy with. On Friday night, the Canucks set a new franchise record for the least amount of shots in a Stanley Cup Playoff game with 12.
The previous record was 13, which was hit twice before in the team's history - April 29th, 2003 against the Minnesota Wild and May 22, 2011 against the San Jose Sharks. In both of those games, the Canucks took home the victory.
Tocchet and his staff are hoping that the team will manage to put up at least 2.5 to 3 times the amount of shots they had last night when the teams meet again for Game 4 at Bridgestone Arena. Puck drop for Game 4 between the Canucks and Predators is set for 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET on Sportsnet.
POLL | ||
Will the Canucks take a 3-1 series lead on Sunday? | ||
Yes | 1177 | 88 % |
No | 160 | 12 % |
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