The Vancouver Canucks couldn’t finish off the Nashville Predators in the fifth game last night, and as a result they will be forced to make the 4 hour flight back to Nashville for game 6 Monday night. Joel Ward was the scoring hero, putting the Predators ahead for good just over a minute into the third, and then adding the eventual game winner minutes later. Ryan Kesler had a pair for the Canucks, including one late in the third to bring the Canucks within one and make it an interesting final two minutes. It wasn’t meant to be as Pekka Rinne shut the door setting up another “Sea of Yellow” at Bridgestone Arena. Vancouver is making it very tough on themselves by allowing teams to stay in series’ that they should have finished off. It remains to be seen how this will affect them in round 3 & 4 if they advance that far.
Today’s elimination game has Detroit heading into San Jose, trying to extend the series to six games. San Jose desperately wants to avoid having to make another cross-country trip for a sixth game.