VANCOUVER, BC – The Western Conference semi final series featuring the Canucks of Vancouver and the Nashville Predators began Thursday evening. For the Canucks, defeating their nemesis the Chicago Blackhawks was a relief for the organization and the fans. For the Predators, the second round of the Stanley Cup was a new adventure for the franchise, one they had to be introduced to on the road.
The question coming into this game was how each side would respond to the pressures of game one particularly coming off emotional series-ending situations.
Would the Canucks suffer a flat line on the enthusiasm scale? Would the Predators suffer from jitters on a bigger stage?
Neither really happened in the first two periods though the Canucks did take a 1-0 lead on the strength of a Chris Higgins goal at 12:14 of the middle stanza. Maxim Lapierre and Kevin Bieksa assisted on the ice breaker.
The Predators showed some rust if not jitters. They had several days to sit and wait for Vancouver to dispatch the Hawks in a dramatic seventh game on Tuesday. For the Canucks they had simply to sleep at home and await Nashville to come calling.
The busiest man on the ice was Pekka Rinne who faced shot after shot through the opening forty minutes of play. In fact, the Canucks took 16 shots in the first and 10 in the second period while Nashville mustered a total of 11 shots over the same time frame. Clearly not enough shots to cause Roberto Luongo to sweat in the Canucks crease.
Neither team was able to generate much offense on the man advantage through the first forty minutes as both were scoreless in four chances with the extra man.
The problem for the Predators especially early in the third was the lack of a jump in the Preds’ skates. The Canucks beat Nashville to every loose puck down low or in open ice.
That extra push from Vancouver led to an early third period penalty to Patic Hornqvist of the Predators.
The Predators had the best opportunity on the power play when Mike Fisher skated in from the neutral zone and put a shot on Luongo. The much-maligned netminder made a strong save despite being a spectator for much of the game. Fisher’s shot was to Luongo’s midsection and steered away to the corner.
From the there, the Predators found some life in their sticks and skates and pressured the Canucks net for several minutes yielding a penalty to Vancouver’s Keith Ballard with just over five minutes left in the third. Nashville managed good pressure but were unable to dent Luongo’s goaltending.
The Predators ended the game with an empty net and not being able to get that one shot on goal to beat Luongo. Time ran out on the Predators as their final shot attempt was blocked out of the zone with 12 seconds left and the horn sounded.
The two teams reconvene Saturday for game two.
Contact Lou.Lafrado@prohockeynews.com
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