'We're not really there yet': Canucks shoot regularly but lose Game 2

VANCOUVER – Never has Vancouver Canucks shoot often and rarely do they shoot so poorly.

The only way injured goaltender Thatcher Demko could have helped his team Tuesday was if he traded his paddle for a regular hockey stick, taking a spot in front of the Nashville Predators' net. and actually hit the 6-foot by 4-foot goal. The target appears to be protected by some kind of force field – and every human in the Predators' organization.

The Canucks attempted 84 shots on Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros and forced him to make only 18 saves. Until a late, meaningless Predator power play, Nashville had blocked more Canuck shots (34) than they had attempted against their own. Casey DeSmithwho suddenly became the focal point of Vancouver's first real playoff series in nine years due to Demko's injury that coach Rick Tocchet said would sideline the star goaltender “week after week.”

The Predators' first shot of the third period came with 1:53 remaining and was an empty-net goal by Kiefer Sherwood that sealed a 4-1 victory as Nashville tied the first-round series at 1 -1 with Game 3 Friday in Tennessee.

according tonaturalstattrick.com72.5% of expected goals are achieved at 5-on-5.

When asked what he saw when taking photos, Canuck center JT Miller said: “Yellow shirt.”

Alas, his team wore blue and not the classic yellow and black spaghetti plates. The Predators are the team wearing white and yellow jerseys.

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Chasing a team like Nashville, who opened the scoring at 74 seconds of the first half, is not a winning strategy. And if you want to get four power plays like Vancouver did, you better score on one of them.

“We couldn't waver, we couldn't start trying to make nice plays, nice passes,” Miller summarized. “I mean, we played really well today; We're not really finished yet. Eighty-five shots, it's not like we didn't shoot the ball. I mean, that's a lot of effort. I don't know, I don't want to reinvent the wheel here. We did a lot of good things.”

The unfinished part is an understatement.

Defender player Nikita Zadorov, with a shot from the top of the left wing circle, was the only Canuck to get past Saros and into the net. And he did it at 15:33 of the second period when the score was already 3-0 to the Predators.

Elias Pettersson missed the net from the slot where he would hit 19 of 20. Pius Suter sent Miller's pass wide of the unguarded goal. Conor Garland took a spin and made a pass across the top of the crease into another half-open net, and Sam Lafferty appeared to have Saros beaten on a breakaway only to lose possession ball.

Dakota Joshua got a shot off the post while being taken down by Saros, and another shot from Miller ricocheted off the bar from Predator defender Alex Carrier.

With six saves, Carrier has made 40% of the saves DeSmith has made. Predators Colton Sissons, Ryan McDonagh and Roman Josi each registered four blocks.

“I just thought, let's keep doing what we're doing,” DeSmith said. “I thought the players played great tonight and played well enough to win. And if we had continued to play that match, we wouldn't have had all those bad defeats. Some of those posts will be included and some empty networks we'll connect to.

“We have a lot of good leaders in this locker room who are always around and we know when we're playing good hockey. And I think right now, we are. Lots to like. Even though we lost, it was still a good match to continue growing.”

Attributing such an important loss to bad luck and ill-timed shooting is reprehensible for a Nashville team that clearly has a lot of grit with its talent.

The Canucks need to be better. And in particular, Pettersson needs to improve further.

His miss from the open net, which could have made it 1-1 with three seconds left in the first half, was astonishing. Likewise, his unforced turnover across the rim became Sissons' rebound goal at 8:04 of the middle period.

“I put us in a bad position, played a stupid game,” Pettersson said after the game. “That can't happen. It was a big hill to climb after my mistake.”

Hit the edge of the net instead of the back of it from Quinn Hughes' Cross-ice pass on a power play in Vancouver, Pettersson said: “I just knew I had an open net. I thought the ball was in a high position, but I had to score anyway.”

Pettersson finished 0-for-9 on target on shot attempts and was minus-three.

“He's young,” Tocchet said of the 25-year-old who just signed a $92.8 million contract extension. “This is his first taste of a pressure-filled playoff game and, you know, this is good for him. He has to study. He has to dust himself off and get ready for Game 3. And he has to be very decisive with the puck. I want to see him shoot the ball. Like, he had to take it. I think he'll be fine. I mean, this is good for him. It was a good lesson.”

But a high price because you only get four shots before being eliminated in the playoffs.

The Canucks have a travel day on Wednesday, then practice Thursday in Nashville before Game 3.

“We should be prepared for anything at this point,” Hughes said. “We have played almost 90 games this year and have seen most of them. They will block shots; they are clearly desperate at this time of year. But I mean, bounce here, bounce there, we could have. . . a lot of goals.”

And yet, only one in 18 shots hit the net. The Canucks' other 66 shots never had a chance.

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