In a crucial Game 6, the Vancouver Canucks handed the net to a rookie goaltender and he came up with a monstrous performance.
Arturs Silovs came up with save after save with no room for error, as neither team could find a goal through the vast majority of the game. In the end, he made no errors at all, stopping every single shot he faced to send the Canucks to the second round.
The Predators had the better of the first period, though neither team mustered up many shots, as had become expected in this low-event series. The better scoring chances came off Predator sticks, however, forcing Silovs to be sharp early.
It was Silovs' third-straight start for the Canucks and he came up with some big saves to keep the score knotted at zeroes through the first twenty minutes. His best stop didn't even register as a save, as he alertly poke-checked Gustav Nyquist on a breakaway before he could get a shot off.
The first period ended without a goal, as did the second, as the game transitioned into a goaltending duel. Juuse Saros was forced to make some big saves as the Canucks pushed to take the lead, with his biggest coming on Pius Suter on a rebound from a J.T. Miller shot.
Meanwhile, the Canucks had to come up with a four-minute penalty kill when Brock Boeser got a double minor for a high stick. Silovs was excellent but Saros had to come up with a save too, robbing Elias Pettersson with the glove on a shorthanded rush.
It was a significantly stronger period for the Canucks but Saros stood on his head to keep them off the scoreboard.
The third period grew frantic, as the Canucks attempted to end the series, while the Predators pushed to stay alive and force a Game 7. The two teams traded chances but couldn't find the final finishing touch.
Then, with fewer than two minutes remaining, the Canucks finally solved Saros, with the game-winning goal coming off an unlikely stick.
Pius Suter had chance after chance in this game but was unable to score. On a makeshift line with Elias Pettersson taking the place of J.T. Miller with him and Brock Boeser, Suter finally got one past Saros. Pettersson won a battle to move the puck down low to Boeser, who quickly swung the puck in front to Suter, who beat his man to the top of the crease.
Suter shot the puck just inside the post to open the scoring with 1:39 remaining in regulation.
All that was left was for the Canucks to close out the game, a task complicated by a shocking cross-checking call on Elias Lindholm with 33 seconds remaining in the game. After letting everything go through 59 minutes, the officials found their whistles for one last penalty.
The Predators threw everything at the net in the dying seconds, but the Canucks threw themselves into the net to help out their goaltender in one final frenetic sequence before the horn sounded to end the game.
The Canucks had won Game 6, eliminating the Predators and moving them on to the second round to face the Edmonton Oilers.
BOXSCORE
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