VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks will host a Stanley Cup Playoff game for the first time in nine years when they open the Western Conference First Round against the Nashville Predators at Rogers Arena on Sunday.
The Canucks earned home-ice advantage by winning the Pacific Division for the first time since 2013, meaning they will open the best-of-7 series against Nashville by playing the first playoff game in Vancouver since 2015, something none of the players on the current roster have experienced before.
“It's been a long time coming, but really excited to be here and get some playoff hockey back here,” forward Elias Pettersson said Saturday. “I've heard all stories about it. I've seen like clips from obviously the Cup run in 2011 and stuff, so yeah, I guess we'll see tomorrow. But I'm very excited to see it.”
Those stories about playoffs in Vancouver include “momentary conversations” with “but no power-point presentation” from coaches Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin, the identical twin brothers who led the last generation of Canucks playoff teams, including five straight division titles through 2013, and that memorable run to the 2011 Cup Final before losing to the Boston Bruins in Game 7.
They would have included expectations of an electric atmosphere, with loud fans waving white towels as the team skates onto the ice, a tradition since former coaching great Roger Neilson did the same during the first of three Canucks runs to the Stanley Cup Final in 1982. This group hopes to be the first in their 54-year history to complete such a run, but top young forwards like Pettersson and Brock Boeser, star defenseman Quinn Hughes and No. 1 goalie Thatcher Demko will have to rely on experience from the 2020 playoffs, which were played without fans at Rogers Place in Edmonton because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pettersson had 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 17 games before the Canucks lost in seven games to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round.
“That was a different time but it's good to know that you can perform,” Pettersson said.
The Predators enter as the first wild card from the West but finished with the fifth-best record in the NHL after Feb. 1 (21-7-3), including a team-record 18-game point streak (16-0-2) from Feb. 16-March 28.
Nashville is prepared for a raucous welcome in Vancouver, especially early in Game 1.
“It's going to be loud,” defenseman Roman Josi said. “First playoff game, the first 10 minutes are always kind of almost the most intense minutes in the season.”
Here are 3 keys for Game 1:
1. Hughes vs Josi
Hughes led NHL defensemen in scoring and set Canucks records this season with 92 points (17 goals, 75 assists) in 82 games, but Josi wasn’t far behind in third place with 85 points, including a League-leading 23 goals as a defenseman.
“Josi is unbelievable, and he's done it for so long and he's just kind of a horse,” Hughes said, “He drives his team, he's always up in the play, he's got a great shot, he's competitive and I think he's been a great ambassador for hockey. … He's 33, playing at maybe the highest level he's played at, and we have to be on him.”
Josi is used to that extra attention after 85 games over nine playoff appearances, including a run to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final. But it will be new for Hughes.
“I feel like I've had attention like that for a little bit, but it will probably spike in the playoffs,” Hughes said. “But my game is in a really good spot, and I've been building the last two-three years and my mentality is in a really good spot.”
2. Inside information
Nashville coach Andrew Brunette doesn’t have to go far for information about the opponent because Predators defenseman Luke Schenn and forward Anthony Beauvillier each played for the Canucks under current coach Rick Tocchet.
Schenn played two seasons in Vancouver before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 28, 2023, five weeks after Tocchet replaced Bruce Boudreau, then signing as a free agent in Nashville during the offseason. Beauvillier started this season with the Canucks and played 22 games before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 28, then to the Predators on March 7.
“For sure we'll lean on them,” Brunette said. “Being through these, after the first five minutes everything is out the door, but definitely lean on them being here and knowing the players well, especially [Beauvillier] being here with [Tocchet] and [Schenn] being here the last couple of years has a pretty good feel for the group.”
3. Paying the price
The Canucks were fourth in the NHL in hits with 2,178, one spot ahead of the Predators (2,149), so both teams expect a physical series.
“You got to embrace the pain,” Tocchet said. “There's going to be pain, and you have to love it. I'm being serious. You’ve got to crave that walk to the bus when you're tired, limping, or you got cut. That should be something you crave.”
That could be especially true early in Game 1.
“Sometimes you forget the puck is out there on occasion,” Predators forward Colton Sissons said.
The key is not getting carried away chasing hits to the point of putting yourself out of position or taking a penalty.
“You want that emotion for sure,” Nashville defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “Fine line between having high emotion and doing things that hurt the team, so we've addressed it.”
Predators projected lineup
Filip Forsberg -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Gustav Nyquist
Mark Jankowski -- Colton Sissons -- Jason Zucker
Anthony Beauvillier -- Tommy Novak -- Luke Evangelista
Cole Smith -- Michael McCarron -- Kiefer Sherwood
Ryan McDonagh -- Roman Josi
Jeremy Lauzon -- Alexandre Carrier
Spencer Stastney -- Luke Schenn
Juuse Saros
Kevin Lankinen
Scratched: Tyson Barrie, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Cody Glass, Dante Fabbro, Gustavs Grigals
Injured: None
Canucks projected lineup
Pius Suter -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser
Nils Hoglander -- Elias Pettersson -- Sam Lafferty
Dakota Joshua -- Elias Lindholm -- Conor Garland
Phillip Di Giuseppe -- Teddy Blueger -- Ilya Mikheyev
Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek
Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers
Ian Cole -- Nikita Zadorov
Thatcher Demko
Casey DeSmith
Scratched: Mark Friedman, Nils Aman, Noah Juulsen, Vasily Podkolzin, Arturs Silovs
Injured: None
Status report
Both teams held an optional morning skate Sunday. … Carrier missed the Predators’ final four periods of the regular season for precautionary reasons but will play Game 1. … Nashville called up Grigals from Atlanta of the ECHL to serve as its third goalie. … Based on practice Saturday, Lafferty will move up for the Canucks to play with Pettersson in place of Mikheyev and Podkolzin, a forward who signed a two-year, $2 million contract Thursday, will be a healthy scratch for Di Giueseppe. … Silovs, a goalie, was called up from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis Sunday.
