Dakota Joshua described it as a sa国际传媒榮pectaclesa国际传媒�. Quinn Hughes said it was sa国际传媒榚lectricsa国际传媒�.
It was the atmosphere at Rogers Arena as playoff hockey returned to Vancouver for the first time in nine years on Sunday night.
The Vancouver Canucks didnsa国际传媒檛 disappoint the sell-out crowd of 18,967 as they scored three third period goals sa国际传媒� the last one into an empty net sa国际传媒� to defeat the Nashville Predators 4-2 in game one of their first-round playoff series.
sa国际传媒淲hen we came out on the ice today it was probably one of the more special things Isa国际传媒檝e been a part of other than the birth of my children and my wedding. Itsa国际传媒檚 hard not to get choked up when you see that,sa国际传媒� J.T. Miller said after the game.
sa国际传媒淭hat literally is everything sa国际传媒� that emotion, that noise and the towels. If you cansa国际传媒檛 get up for that, you have something wrong with you. That was amazing. Once the first couple of shifts subsided, it was nice to settle in and play the game but I think I got a different perspective of what hockey means to these people here.sa国际传媒�
Despite the energy in the building, it was the Predators who opened the scoring on a goal by Jason Zucker at 16:15 of the first period and led 1-0 after 20 minutes of play,
The Canucks battled back with an early second period goal by Elias Lindholm 0:47 seconds into the period but Ryan Osa国际传媒橰eillysa国际传媒檚 goal on the power play at 10:46 gave the Preds a 2-1 lead after forty minutes.
After Nashville went ahead, the Canucks came to a fork in the road.
Do they succumb to the pressure, press and make a mistake to give Nashville a 3-1 lead? Or do they hold steady until an opportunity arises?
Luckily for Canuck Nation it was the latter on this night as Pius Suter scored at 8:59 and then Joshua scored 12 seconds later to give the Canucks a lead they wouldnsa国际传媒檛 relinquish. Joshua added an empty netter at 18:32 to clinch the win.
In a way, the Canucks had been preparing for this situation sa国际传媒� and for this game sa国际传媒� all season long.
Since training camp, Vancouver head coach Rick Tocchet has preached to stay sa国际传媒榚ven keelsa国际传媒� and to be patient in critical situations.
Being down 2-1 at home in your first playoff game with an amped up crowd tested that mantra and the Canucks passed the test.
sa国际传媒淚t helped a lot. Wesa国际传媒檝e been working on it all year. Wesa国际传媒檝e talked countless times throughout the season exactly for moments like this. Itsa国际传媒檚 what we have been building for sa国际传媒� how to approach it physically and mentally. When things go bad or go well, it should be even-keel and they guys did a good job tonight,sa国际传媒� stated Tyler Myers.
sa国际传媒淲e could have pressed and got off our game but we didnsa国际传媒檛. We played strong, mature hockey. We let the game come to us and we didnsa国际传媒檛 give them too much. We knew we were going to have our looks,sa国际传媒� said Hughes.
You can talk scheme, you can talk Corsi or PDO or whatever other analytical data you can uncover but the game is decided in the purest form sa国际传媒� winning one-on-one puck battles sa国际传媒� and it was a key in the Canucks success on Sunday night. Whether it was winning that battle in the defensive zone to start the rush as was the case in the first two Canuck goals or whether it was Lindholm and Conor Garland doing the dirty work to set up Joshuasa国际传媒檚 game winner, having the will to win that one-on-one is paramount to success.
sa国际传媒淚t all starts somewhere on the ice sa国际传媒� winning a one-on-one battle. All the goals are scored like that no matter what zone itsa国际传媒檚 in. Thatsa国际传媒檚 how a lot of goals are going to be scored in the playoffs. I just take pride in trying to win every battle Isa国际传媒檓 in,sa国际传媒� stated Joshua.
sa国际传媒淎 lot of times off the forecheck you get one chance to keep the puck and if you win that battle and get the puck to the sa国际传媒楧sa国际传媒� that could start a thirty second shift sa国际传媒� or two or three shifts in a row - in their end. Itsa国际传媒檚 a big play and we talk about it all the time. If you lose that puck battle that might mean that shift yousa国际传媒檙e playing defense. We take a lot of pride in those and itsa国际传媒檚 something we can even be better at,sa国际传媒� explained Miller.
As for Tocchet, he was happy with his teamsa国际传媒檚 performance in the puck battles, but as always, saw areas in which the Canucks could improve in.
sa国际传媒淚t was good. I think theresa国际传媒檚 another level. I think our edge battles off the draws sa国际传媒� thatsa国际传媒檚 one thing I think wesa国际传媒檝e got to improve on. I think that has to be improved. It was a pretty low-event game in some respect but I think some of the chances they got were off (winning) draws,sa国际传媒� said Tocchet.
OVERTIME
* Thatcher Demko made 20 saves sa国际传媒� including an incredible save of Nashvillesa国际传媒檚 Anthony Beauvillier two minutes into the game. Demko came sprawling across his crease and got his right leg out to stop Beauvilliersa国际传媒檚 back door re-direct attempt. Nashvillesa国际传媒檚 Juuse Saros made 17 saves in a losing effort.
* Vancouver was 0-2 on the power play while Nashville was 1-4.
* Nashville head coach Andrew Brunette is confident his team will bounce back in game two Tuesday night at Rogers Arena. sa国际传媒淚 think this group has been resilient. Wesa国际传媒檝e handled adversity all year. I think to a man we probably didnsa国际传媒檛 play our best but wesa国际传媒檝e done a really good job of just moving straight ahead. Just forget about it - rinse it. It was a fun gamesa国际传媒 was proud of our group -how they handled it early and how we started sa国际传媒� in my mind sa国际传媒� to take the game over but we just didnsa国际传媒檛 finish the job. So lesson learned. Itsa国际传媒檚 a long series and we cansa国际传媒檛 wait for the next game.sa国际传媒�
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob sa国际传媒渢he Mojsa国际传媒� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
READ MORE:
READ MORE:
