Boeser, Canucks show resolve in Game 4 OT win against Predators

NASHVILLE -- Brock Boeser thought for a moment he had just cost the Vancouver Canucks the game.

Down 3-2 with the final seconds ticking off the clock, Nashville Predators goalie Juuse Saros had just slid to the top of his crease to make a pad save on J.T. Miller's shot. The rebound landed on Boeser's stick, and with an open net to shoot at he ...

Hit the post.

"'Millsy' I think was trying to go high tip there. I think it hit [Saros'] stick," Boeser said. "I went and got the rebound and I missed that first there. Kind of thought I'd lost us the game for a quick second."

Instead, Boeser showed remarkable patience and skill. With his skates below the goal line as his momentum took him toward the end boards, Boeser was able to corral the loose puck, put it on his forehand, and reach back across his body to tuck a shot in past the outstretched stick of Saros.

Suddenly, the Canucks had new life, having tied it 3-3 with eight seconds remaining in the third period.

And it didn't stay tied for long. 

Elias Lindholm scored 1:02 into overtime to give Vancouver a 4-3 victory and a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference First Round series. The Canucks will now have a chance to advance when they return home to Rogers Arena for Game 5 on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNE, SNO, SNP, BSSO, TBS, MAX).

"Obviously, you're happy with them, nobody quit," Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. "We have things to work on. That three minutes won us the game, obviously. Great effort by Boeser, three goals. ... So, yeah, take the positives, but we've got some work to do honestly."

Boeser is a big reason why the Canucks are in a position to win the series.

He scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in a 2-1 win in Game 3 on Friday, when the Canucks were outshot 30-12. He followed that up by scoring his first career hat trick in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sunday, when Vancouver was again outshot 30-20.

Boeser, who had eight of those 20 shots, gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead just 2:55 into the first period when he was left alone in the bottom of the left circle.

But once again, Vancouver spent most of the game under pressure from Nashville's relentless forecheck, which nearly got the Predators even in the series. Until Boeser took over.

With less than three minutes remaining in regulation and goalie Arturs Silovs on the bench for an extra attacker, Boeser was positioned to the right of the net when he received a pass through the crease from Lindholm. He waited.

"I know Saros is a great goaltender, and I know he's going to probably use his paddle, so I was thinking upstairs," Boeser said.

As Saros made a desperation dive across, Boeser patiently held onto the puck and lifted it under the crossbar to cut it to 3-2 at 17:11.

"He knows how to score goals, be in the right spot," Lindholm said. "Obviously, he has the scoring touch as well. When it's up close there, like the second and third goals, he keeps calm and makes sure it's in the net."

Tocchet scored 492 goals in the regular season and playoffs during his NHL career, so he has an idea of what a scoring touch looks like.

He said the patience Boeser showed to score those two goals in that spot is very rare, and very special.

"That's the pedigree of a 40-goal scorer," Tocchet said. "I've seen it happen all year. A goal-scorer knows. Him, the [David] Pastrnaks, they know the right time to shoot it. Sometimes somebody comes over, they'll just jam it. You see that goal, he didn't jam it. He waited, brought it back. ... That's [Boeser]. He's got a really good hockey IQ to score goals. His timing is really, really good."

It's a timing that's been honed from understanding that goals are scored near the net.

"He used to be a perimeter guy when I got here and now he's really bought into playing hashmark-down hockey, and he scores a lot of goals for us right in that area," Miller said.

He'll need to stay at that level, and bring more of his teammates along with him, if they want to close the series out in Game 5.

"I think we've just got to have that desperation from the start of our next game," Boeser said. "We've got to know that they're a really good hockey team over there. They're strong on pucks and winning puck battles. I think we've talked about it, our forecheck hasn't been good enough. It's been a lot of one and done and you can see they're getting momentum off that, they're breaking pucks out pretty clean right now. We know we need to be harder. So, I think we've got to start there, just digging down and winning our battles."

Boeser won those battles in Game 4, and the Canucks are one step closer to reaching the second round because of it.

"He's one of our better practice guys," Tocchet said. "We do a drill and he's always doing it right. I think it pays off in games like this, when you've got to be in the right spots. ... He was able there to score the goal, that second stick guy. He listens. So, I think he gets rewarded for it."