It is officially playoff time in Vancouver and the Canucks will battle with the Nashville Predators in Round One.
We have your full breakdown of the matchup and everything you need to know about the series in this mega-preview.
What Got Them Here
Under first-year head coach Andrew Brunette, the Predators secured the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference with a 47-30-5 record. They were 10th in the league in goals for and 13th for goals against.
The Canucks and Predators played three times this season and the Canucks took all three games by scores of 3-2 and a pair of 5-2 victories. The two teams have not played since December 19th, which was before the Preds went on their long streak without a regulation loss.
The Predators’ season turned around on February 17th, when they kicked off a 16-0-2 stretch that propelled them into playoff contention. Filip Forsberg, who we will talk about more later, was the leading scorer for the Predators on their 18-game heater. He scored 15 goals and added 13 assists for 28 points.
Before their 18-game hot streak, the Predators were just above .500 with a 27-25-2 record and were outscored 177-162 in their opening 54 games.
After a slow start and a hot run after the All-Star break, the Preds closed out their season with a 4-5-1 record in their final 10 games.
Let’s break down the Predators by position and see what to watch in the upcoming series.
Forwards
Forsberg set a franchise record for goals in a season with 48 goals in 82 games. He added 46 assists to give him a career-high 94 points. Forsberg’s most consistent linemates this season were Ryan O’Reilly and Gustav Nyquist. The trio spent almost the entirety of the 2023-24 regular season together as a line and had strong possession and scoring numbers.
That line held a 54.1% Corsi, controlled 59.7% of the goal share (46-31), and was strong around the net in both the offensive and defensive zones with a 56.1% control of high-danger scoring chances and a 68.2% control (30-14) of high-danger goals for.
These stats help us realize that the Predators' top line is not shy when it comes to driving the net. They score most of their goals from just outside the crease, and the Canucks need active sticks around the blue paint. These stats also help us see that the Preds’ top line is not all flash and dash, they can play sturdy defence as well.
O’Reilly may be approaching his mid-thirties, but he is still a strong defensive centre in the league and a former Selke Trophy winner for the best defensive forward in the league. O’Reilly is also strong in the faceoff circle – he won 53.9% of his 1536 draws.
The middle-six consists of some players you may know and some that you won’t know until Sunday. Thomas Novak and Colton Sissons centre the middle-six lines, and each has found the back of the net 15 or more times this year. Novak is clearly the weakest in the faceoff dot and only won 42.2% of his draws this season.
On the wings, the middle-six features former Canuck Anthony Beauvillier in a third-line role. The 26-year-old winger had one goal in 15 games with the Preds and finished the season with five goals in 60 games played with the Canucks, Predators, and Chicago Blackhawks.
Jason Zucker had five goals in 18 games with the Preds this season. He was acquired on March 8th from the Arizona Coyotes.
Luke Evangelista will slot in the middle-six and was sixth in team scoring with 16 goals and 23 assists for 39 points in 80 games.
Cole Smith, Michael McCarron, and Kiefer Sherwood have been together on a fourth line lately and they are a physical trio. Smith had 235 hits this season, Sherwood came in at 234, and McCarron landed a hit 142 times.
Defence
Preds’ captain Roman Josi is the top dog of the Predators’ defence corps. He averaged 24:38 per game and was third on the team with 23 goals. Josi has recently been playing alongside Ryan McDonagh on the Preds’ top pairing, but we have seen a substantial chunk of the season where Josi was alongside Dante Fabbro.
The Josi-McDonagh pairing has been excellent this season and is the more dangerous defence pairing at creating offence. They have been on the ice for 29 goals scored and 15 goals against in 439 minutes of five-on-five ice time together.
Jeremy Lauzon will likely have his name called a ton throughout this series. The 26-year-old set an NHL record with 383 hits in a season. The Preds have physical depth defencemen in their lineup as our old friend Luke Schenn anchors the bottom-pairing for the Preds.
Goaltending
Juuse Saros made 64 starts this season and finished the regular season with a 35-24-5 record. He had three shutouts and held a .906% save percentage. Saros allowed four or more goals in 33% of his starts.
Kevin Lankinen is the backup and he made 17 starts this season with a .908% save percentage.
Predators Team Notes
- Nashville has a middle-of-the-pack power play and finished the season with the 16th-ranked power play – clicking at 21.6% on the year.
- The Predators have the third-worst penalty kill percentage of any playoff team. They killed off 76.9% of their penalties this season and ranked 22nd at the end of the regular season.
- Scoring first has been massively important for the Preds this season. They hold a 35-10-3 record when they notch the first goal of the game and are 12-20-2 when they allow the first goal against.
- The Preds were 9-6 in one-goal games this season.
- Their best period has been the third period this year. They scored 93 goals in third periods this season and allowed 84.
- It should be noted that on the road, their first periods have been strong this season. In 41 away games, they scored 43 goals in the first period of play and have allowed just 29 goals against.
Both teams have been committed to changing their culture and structure over the past 12 months and through strong coaching, both teams have had success in the regular season.
We now head into the playoffs where every single detail is amplified, and every inch becomes a mile. This has been what the Canucks have been working to all season long and they are set for the next level as they charter into the playoff waters.
Leading the way offensively is J.T. Miller with 103 points this season. He scored 37 goals this season, giving him his third consecutive 30-goal season with the Canucks.
Miller had 217 hits this season and was second on the team to Dakota Joshua, who had 245 hits in 63 games played. Sam Lafferty (191), Noah Juulsen (164) and Elias Pettersson (125) round out the top-five for most hits thrown this season.
The Canucks added Lafferty, Mark Friedman, Nikita Zadorov, and Elias Lindholm via trade during the season to bring added defensive depth, physicality and the type of player that can buy into head coach Rick Tocchet’s system.
Nils Höglander had a breakout season with 24 goals at five-on-five – good enough for 10th in the league. Höglander developed his game in the AHL with Abbotsford last season and has come in and worked his tail off to be an effective piece of the Canucks’ forward group.
On defence, Quinn Hughes has been electric all season long. In his first year as the Canucks’ captain, Hughes led the NHL in scoring from a defenceman with 92 points.
Hughes has primarily played alongside Filip Hronek on the Canucks’ top pairing and was on the ice for 72 goals scored and 46 goals against.
Carson Soucy, Tyler Myers, and Nikita Zadorov bring size to the defence, as they are all 6’5” or taller.
Ian Cole leads the roster in playoff experience. He has played in 116 playoff games in his 14-year NHL career. Cole has now been on a playoff team in 13 consecutive seasons and will be a veteran presence that the group can go to for guidance.
Thatcher Demko made 51 starts between the pipes this year and picked up 35 wins with a .918% save percentage and a career-best five shutouts.
The Canucks are one of three teams in the league to have less than 10 regulation losses on home ice this year. They finished the season with a 27-9-5 record at Rogers Arena and the fans have been amazing all season long.
The city of Vancouver has been craving playoff hockey for years and we are at a point now where the Canucks are ready to deliver. The playoffs get going on Sunday and will follow up with game two on Tuesday.
