Frank Seravalli talks Canucks’ composure in game one, Nashville’s potential adjustments, and more: Canucks Conversation
3 days ago
On yesterday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal welcomed NHL insider Frank Seravalli to discuss the Canucks’ Game 1 performance against the Nashville Predators. The Canucks came back from a 2-1 deficit in the 3rd to win the crucial game 1 at home.
Frank shared his perspective on the series outlook: “There’s probably going to be a hiccup here or there for the Canucks; it’s pretty standard. Not everything goes swimmingly, and there’s another team involved that obviously has a big say in what happens. I feel pretty good about six [games to win the series].”
He then suggested Nashville’s potential adjustments for Game 2: “Pushing the pace more, not speed-wise, but there was a bit of them sitting back and forcing the Canucks to chip and chase, and that’s not Vancouver’s game. The fact the Canucks were able to wade through that and assert themselves… If I was in Nashville’s room, I’d say, ‘Why don’t we dictate how we’re going to play instead of sitting back and waiting for them to pick through what we’re doing?’ Maybe they feel this is their best path to success… they can make this a somewhat short series. This is a grueling first-round series in terms of travel; by far the longest distance anyone has to travel in the first round. Do yourself a favor, give yourself the best possible opportunity to make life easy.”
Frank highlighted the effectiveness of the Joshua-Lindholm-Garland line: “Some similarities between O’Reilly and Lindholm with how they play. O’Reilly is more physical while Lindholm is more cerebral in how he views the ice, but he’s so talented defensively that his awareness is strong, positioning is always excellent… Miller and Pettersson don’t get on the scoresheet, Lindholm gets an absolute gift from Juuse Saros, probably one they’re not going to get the rest of the series, and a big shot in the arm confidence-wise for Lindholm. Those are the types of contributions that are must-haves when it comes to the playoffs, and they’ve gotten a huge chunk of that to start round one.”
Finally, Frank praised the Canucks’ composure in their Game 1 comeback: “They didn’t try and open the game up when trailing 2-1 in the third period, and that would’ve been an easy card to play. There didn’t seem to be any panic… The idea that the Canucks have to go through heartbreak in order to get to where they want to go; no one is going to take them seriously as a threat until they fall short and learn how to win… however, what if some of those lessons that this team needs to learn, they’ve been learning since training camp? You go through that [locker] room, it is methodical. They’re a machine, and I don’t mean just winning press conferences. They’ve been talking about being comfortable in one-goal games. There’s a sign that says, ‘meet pressure with pressure’… There’s going to be some really good teams in front of you, but the Canucks are really uniquely structured in having some of the best players in the world at the three or four most key positions in the sport, and when you have that, you have a chance to win.”
You can watch the full segment in the video below:
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