2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs Preview: Vancouver Canucks vs Nashville Predators
For only the second time in NHL history the Vancouver Canucks are taking on the Nashville Predators. The only other time was in 2011 when the Canucks won 4-2 on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals where they lost to the Boston Bruins.
Vancouver comes into the playoffs as the Pacific Division winners after a great season. The Canucks have one of the best defensemen in the league: Quinn Hughes, who leads all defencemen with 92 points, seven ahead of Nashville’s Roman Josi, who had 85. Hughes had six points against the Predators this season in Vancouver’s three-game sweep.
The Canucks have not been to the playoffs since the 2019-20 season when they lost to the Los Vegas Golden Knights in seven games. A young team at the time has come into form with a load of talent. Three players had over 80 points with JT Miller leading the way with 103 on 37 goals and 66 assists in 81 games. Behind him was Hughes with 92 points and Elias Petterson with 89 points.
The real strength of the Canucks in the 2023-24 season has been their defense which has allowed the fifth most goals at 223. However, they did lose six of their final 11 games which is not a great sign coming into the playoffs. Brock Boeser led the team in goals with 40 while Hughes led the way with 75 assists.
The concern for the Predators is that they do not have much momentum having lost 6 of their last 10 regular season games. However, they played all their games against the Canucks prior to the turn of the new year. And Nashville has looked a lot better in 2024 than it did in the final parts of 2023.
Juuse Saros may not have great stats over the whole season, but he has still been a top-notch goaltender, getting 35 wins on the season. That includes winning 15 of his final 21 starts. Josi continues to be one of the better defensemen in the league while Filip Forsberg has scored a franchise-record 48 goals in a season.
Behind the dangerous Swede has been seven different forwards with 10 or more goals. This includes Ryan O’Rilley who scored the second most goals with 26. O’Reilly is also still one of the best faceoff men in the league with a 53.9 percent win percentage. Winning faceoffs against the Canucks will be essential if the Predators want any hope of controlling the tempo of play.
Recent History:
As mentioned earlier the Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators have only met once in the playoffs prior. In that series, the top-ranked Canucks dominated the 5th-ranked Predators in the second round of the 2010-11 playoffs by winning the series 4-2 with both of Nashville’s wins coming by just one goal including a double overtime winner. In the regular season, the Canucks have won the last four while the Predators won three straight prior to that.
The Last Time Out:
The last time these two teams played came back in mid-December when the Canucks won 5-2 to complete the season series sweep. Over the 2023-24 season, the Vancouver Canucks beat the Nashville Predators 13-6. This came on behalf of two 5-2 wins by the Canadian side.
Why Vancouver Wins:
The Vancouver Canucks have a far better defense and a goaltender that was more effective during the regular season. Thatcher Demko allowed just 2.45 goals per game in 51 games compared to Juuse Saros who let up 2.86 in 64 games. The saying goes “defense wins championships” and the Canucks have a defense to do so. Even outside of Quinn Hughes the Canucks have four defensemen who finished the season with a plus-minus of 10 or more.
They also have plenty of forward depth which could cause an issue for the Predator’s mediocre defense. Five different players scored 20 or more goals during the 2023-24 NHL season.
The big question for the Canucks is whether or not they can survive playoff hockey, which has been known to be far more intense than the regular season. For a team that has not spent much time recently in the playoffs, this may be a shock to the system.
Why Nashville Wins:
The best hope the Nashville Predators have of winning this series is if Juuse Saros catches fire and leads them to a win. One of the better goaltenders in the West, Saros can be extremely hard to beat if he is on his game. The Canucks have a high-powered attack that will require the Finnish goalie to be on his best game. Fortunately for the Predators, he has been as of late, allowing two or fewer goals in 13 of his last 21 appearances.
Another thing that has to go right for the Predators to take this first-round series over the Canucks is the aggressive play. That starts with Jeremy Lauzon who tied the record of hits in a season with 386 alongside Robert Svehla of the 2001-02 Florida Panthers.
Nashville will need to steal one on the road and force the Canucks to win in a hostile Bridgestone Arena that is not allowing tickets to be purchased outside of a few states in the southeast.
The Pick:
Vancouver has been the better team over a full 82 games but this is new territory for the team. The Predators have lost in the first round in two of the last three seasons and have the talent to advance. They may have missed out last season but lost to the eventual Stanley Cup winner a year prior in the Colorado Avalanche. These are two very even teams despite their seed but I have the Canucks coming out in six games. However, a seventh game could very well be necessary.
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