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THE MOJ: Will 91Ƶ and special teams 91Ƶ crucial as Canucks return to the playoffs

First-round foes Nashville might not be as talented as Vancouver but they are determined
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Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros (74) defends the goal against the Vancouver Canucks right wing Brock Boeser (6) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. The Canucks won 5-2. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Here we go.

For the first time in what seems an eternity, there will be playoff hockey at Rogers Arena.

The Vancouver Canucks will be playing the Nashville Predators in the first round of the National Hockey League playoffs with the best-of-seven series beginning Sunday in Vancouver.

It will be the second post-season matchup between the two organizations, The previous one was during the Canucks Stanley Cup final run of 2011. The Canucks won that Western Conference semi-final series in six games to advance to the conference finals against San Jose before eventually losing to the Boston Bruins in the legendary 2011 Stanley Cup showdown.

The Canucks swept their three-game season series against the Predators, winning 3-2 in Nashville on Oct. 24, 5-2 on Halloween in Vancouver, and completing the sweep with a 5-2 victory in The Music City on Dec. 19.

But it91Ƶs a different Nashville team that Vancouver will be facing since they last met.

After dropping the game to the Canucks prior to Christmas, the Predators sat at 18-14-0.

Since that time, they have gone 29-16-5 which included a stretch of 18 games without a loss in regulation.

Long time Predators play-by-play voice Pete Weber wants to know which Nashville team will show up.

91ƵI91Ƶm curious to see if it91Ƶs the team that we saw prior to the New Year or the one that had an amazing turnaround from January onwards,91Ƶ said Weber, who has been calling Preds games on the radio since the team91Ƶs inception in 1998.

Weber was just one of a handful of people that we reached out to asking what is the one question that you want to see answered in this series?

For ESPN91Ƶs Ray Ferraro, it91Ƶs how these two young teams handle the pressure of the playoffs.

91ƵI91Ƶm curious to see how both team91Ƶs relative playoff inexperience plays out. Nashville plays a straight-ahead game against a defensively sound Vancouver group and I91Ƶm curious whose style of play will be able to be imposed most often in the series. I see this as a really even series. I would pick Vancouver in six, but I think these are two teams that most will look past and they really shouldn91Ƶt,91Ƶ explained Ferraro.

For TSN91Ƶs Craig Button, it91Ƶs about will.

91ƵI think Rick Tocchet looked at his team at the end of February and said we have to start getting prepared for the playoffs. The playoffs require us to fight for every square inch of ice, to battle for every puck, to make sure we91Ƶre not giving anything away,91Ƶ said Button.

91ƵI think Rick and the coaching staff recognized that their team was going to be in the playoffs, but to be successful in the playoffs, they had to go through the process of what I would call hardening up. And I think Rick really did a nice job of getting them to focus on that. Do they have a good goaltender? No question. Is there defense good? Yeah. Do they have difference makers? Yeah. But once you get into the hard areas versus good teams, it91Ƶs will as much as it is skill. I think Rick identified that time as critically important for his team to dig in.

91ƵNashville plays hard, they91Ƶre competitive and they91Ƶre on you. I don91Ƶt think they have more skill than the Canucks but are the Canucks prepared to show that they have the requisite ability to dig in and make sure that they91Ƶre on the right side more times than not in the critical and important battles in the game.91Ƶ

For TNT91Ƶs Paul 91ƵBiz Nasty91Ƶ Bissonnette, it boils down to the Canucks secondary scoring 91Ƶ especially if goaltender Thatcher Demko isn91Ƶt 100%.

91ƵVancouver needs their secondary scoring. If Demko isn91Ƶt at the top of his game due to that injury, they will really need it. Conor Garland, Dakota Joshua and (Elias) Lindholm will be big keys to Vancouver91Ƶs success. Rick Tocchet has them playing well and it should be a great series,91Ƶ says Bissonnette.

There all great points by the aforementioned 91Ƶhockey insiders91Ƶ and I agree with all of them but this agent will add another point.

I want to see if the Canucks special teams can be special. As The Athletic91Ƶs Harman Dayal pointed out, Vancouver91Ƶs special teams since the All-Star break have been dismal with the power play unit ranking 25th while the penalty kill ranked 2oth. Playoff games are usually tight ones and special teams can win 91Ƶ or lose 91Ƶ you a series.

Those two units desperately need to be better if the Canucks are to have success in the post-season.

I91Ƶm looking forward to getting some answers.

OVERTIME

* The first game of the series will take place on Sunday. Game two will take place on Tuesday at Rogers Arena. Games three and four will be in Nashville on Friday, April 26 and Sunday, April 28 respectively. If necessary, game five will take place on Tuesday, April 30 at Rogers Arena, game six will be at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday, May 2 with game seven the following night at Rogers Arena. Concerts in both arenas are the cause for the irregular schedule.

* The series could prove to be a costly series for a pair of Preds. North Vancouver91Ƶs Colton Sissons and Burnaby91Ƶs Dante Fabbro always have plenty of family and friends attending games in Vancouver.

* The Canucks wrapped up their season with a 4-2 loss to the Jets in Winnipeg on Thursday. The Jets got two goals from Cole Perfetti with Nikita Chibrikov and Gabriel Vilardi also adding tallies. Conor Garland 91Ƶ with his 20th - and Elias Lindholm scored for Vancouver. Thatcher Demko made 24 saves for Vancouver while Laurent Broissoit stopped 18 shots for Winnipeg.

* The Canucks finished the season with 109 points 91Ƶ the third highest total in team history.

Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob 91Ƶthe Moj91Ƶ Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.

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