Achi news desk-
Nashville –
Six seasons into his NHL career, Casey DeSmith is finally getting his first playoff win.
The 32-year-old goaltender made 29 saves Friday, holding his Vancouver Canucks to a 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.
The win gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven game.
“It couldn’t come at a better time,” DeSmith said. “I was very disappointed with how I played the other night. I thought the team played brilliantly the other night and didn’t get the result they deserved. And tonight I thought we brought it. We won that one. So it means a lot. “
DeSmith wasn’t supposed to be Vancouver’s starter for the team’s first playoff run since 2020. But after Game 1, star netminder Thatcher Demko went down with an undisclosed injury. It is being considered week to week at the moment.
The backup netminder’s demeanor has allowed him to slide seamlessly into the high-pressure spot, Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said.
“(DeSmith) is not a forehead guy, he always has a smile on his face. I think it’s contagious when it comes in,” Tocchet said. “Even if he’s having a tough night or things aren’t going his way, he comes in, spends hours (working on his game), never complains and his demeanor is great on for that role.
“I think he just locked it in (tonight). I think his personality keeps him even niche.”
Vancouver pressed hard on special teams for the win, going 2-for-3 on the power play and killing all five penalties it faced.
JT Miller had a goal and an assist for the Canucks, while Brock Boeser scored and Quinn Hughes contributed a pair of assists.
Luke Evangelista answered for Nashville late in the third period, scoring his first career playoff goal.
Juuse Saros stopped 10 of 12 shots for the Predators. The 12 shots were a franchise low for the Canucks.
“(The Canucks) defended extremely well, as they have every series,” Nashville head coach Andrew Brunette said. “The whole series is going to be muddy. It’s going to be difficult. And we still had to do a better job going in.”
The Predators managed to overwhelm the visitors early on, corralling the Canucks in their own zone for several minutes at a time.
Vancouver was called for two penalties in the first 10 minutes of the game, and took both, thanks in part to DeSmith. He denied netminder Ryan O’Reilly at the 5:40 mark, using his paddle to send a quick shot up and out of the way.
Midway through the frame, DeSmith drew a penalty when he was leveled by Michael McCarron behind the net.
The Canucks’ power play got to work, putting the puck around the perimeter and looking for the right opportunity. Hughes connected with Miller and the forward blasted a shot past Saros above the faceoff circle, scoring Vancouver’s first recorded shot of the game 13:23 into the first.
Vancouver went up 2-0 thanks to another man advantage early in the second when Predators defender Roman Josi was sent to the box for tripping.
Positioned near the boards, Miller sliced the pass to Boeser, who directed it in from the top of the crease at the 4:33 mark.
“I think it was the perfect time in a game where your power play needs to step up and it was timely for us,” Miller said.
Nashville had a great chance to eat into the deficit midway through the third when the visitors went down two men for 21 seconds. Boeser had been called for tripping, and late in the penalty kick, Nikita Zadorov sent a puck up and over the glass.
O’Reilly had a chance from the side of the crease but sent his shot into the head of Vancouver defender Ian Cole and the puck bounced up and over the net.
“We had a pretty good game. We hold them to, what? Eleven shots I think? So I felt like we had most of the 5-on-5 game,” said Josi.
“Our power play needs to step up. Obviously, their power play got two goals, which was the difference. I thought we pushed hard and we kept going. We can’t get another goal.”
Evangelista beat DeSmith 16:48 into the final frame, whipping a wrist shot on net from the faceoff circle as he fell to his knees to make it 2-1.
INS AND OUTS
Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers returned to the lineup after missing Game 2 with the flu. Noah Juulsen, who slotted in for Myers, was a healthy scratch.
The Predators have fielded the same players for the first three games of the series, but saw defenseman Spencer Stastney leave the game with an upper body injury after being hit by Vancouver’s Dakota Joshua midway through the first period.
ELITE COMPANY
Hughes registered his 19th and 20th career playoff points and became the third player in Canucks history to collect at least 20 points in his first 20 playoff games. Trevor Linden and Thomas Gradin completed the feat, each earning 21 points in their first 20 postseason appearances.
UP NEXT
Game 4 is set to go Sunday in Nashville.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on April 26, 2024.
