Suter scores late, Canucks eliminate Predators with shutout in Game 6

NASHVILLE -- Pius Suter scored with 1:39 remaining in the third period, and Arturs Silovs made 28 saves for the Vancouver Canucks, who eliminated the Nashville Predators with a 1-0 win in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round at Bridgestone Arena on Friday.

Brock Boeser made a backhand pass near the end boards to Suter in front of the net, and he beat Juuse Saros on a shot inside the left post.

“I got a little frustrated for a moment there, let it out quickly, and then obviously just tried to focus on the next shift,” Suter said. “Do the right things, and it will come. Luckily, it ended up happening.”

The Canucks will play the Edmonton Oilers in the second round.

“It wasn’t easy by any means,” Vancouver defenseman Quinn Hughes. “I feel like a couple of the games could’ve gone either way, obviously. Tonight can go into that bracket. It’s really hard to win at this level. They compete. They work really hard. They’ve got a lot of pride in their game. We were lucky enough to come out on top.”

Silovs, who was making his third straight start, got his first shutout in the NHL for the Canucks, who are the No. 1 seed from the Pacific Division.

Silovs entered the series with nine regular-season starts before receiving an opportunity in Game 4 because of a lower-body injury to Casey DeSmith, who had started Games 2 and 3 after Thatcher Demko sustained an undisclosed injury during Game 1.

“You just see his demeanor,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said of Silovs. “Even when he was up as the third goalie, he was in practice and he works on his game. He’s juggling. He does these routines for hours in the hallway. You can just tell the moment is not too big. He’s calm in the net.

“I mean, this is the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and you’re the third goalie and you’ve got to go in there. That takes a lot of, you know what I’m saying, to do that and have the guys have confidence in him.”

Saros made 28 saves for the Predators, who were the first wild card from the West.

“We got caught back on our heels a bit,” Nashville forward Ryan O'Reilly said. “I don’t know if it was kind of just frustration of not kind of generating anything, but they made a strong push back. It was too late. They got a big goal, and we just didn’t take the momentum back like we needed to. Give them credit, they played us well. It stings.”

Vancouver ended the game by holding off Nashville, which had a 6-on-4 advantage over the final 34 seconds following a cross-checking penalty against Elias Lindholm with Saros pulled for the extra skater.

The Predators were also unable to convert on a four-minute power play in the second period after Boeser was called for a double minor for high-sticking against Nashville defenseman Jeremy Lauzon at 6:32.

“That’s going to keep me up all night, probably,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “Looking on the flip side, they only got two power-play goals too [in the series]. I’d probably replay that last 33 seconds. I thought we had some things that were there that we missed. It needs to be better. I take responsibility for that. At the same time, we put ourselves in opportunities to make plays. We just, unfortunately, didn’t make the plays.”

Vancouver had 29 shots on goal, its highest total of the series. Nashville blocked an additional 24 shots.

“That team, they play so hard, and every single line competes,” Canucks forward J.T. Miller said. “They don’t give you freebies. They’re very aggressive, so I think sometimes we got our looks because of their aggressive nature. But when they’re on, they’re very hard to play against. They block so many shots. It’s very frustrating up front. You feel like you did everything right to get the look, and then they’re in the lane. It was a [heck] of a series.”

NOTES: Silovs became the 14th rookie goaltender in NHL history with a shutout in a potential series-clinching game. The only others to achieve the feat in the previous 30 years are Akira Schmid (Game 7 of 2023 Eastern Conference First Round), Matt Murray (Game 6 of 2017 Stanley Cup Final), Carey Price (Game 7 of 2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals) and Ilya Bryzgalov (Game 7 of 2006 Western Conference Quarterfinals). … Predators defenseman Luke Schenn returned to the lineup after missing Game 5 because of an illness. He finished with one shot on goal in 13:03 of ice time. … Predators forward Cole Smith missed the game because of an upper-body injury. Juuso Parssinen replaced him in the lineup and had one shot in 15:11. It was Parssinen’s playoff debut.