Nashville Predators vs. Vancouver Canucks Pick and Prediction – April 30, 2024

NASHVILLE PREDATORS VS. VANCOUVER CANUCKS EXPERT PICK AND PREDICTION – April 30, 2024 — When a team falls apart the way Nashville did in Game 4, it’s hard to see them coming back. You only get so many chances when you’re the underdog in the series, and the Predators squandered a golden opportunity to even the series in Nashville.

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Suddenly, Vancouver has a 3-1 chokehold on the series after one of the most dramatic comebacks the playoffs have seen in some time. The Canucks trailed by two goals and had the net empty, yet they found a way to score twice in the final three minutes of regulation and needed just 62 seconds of overtime to score the winner.

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The Predators now face very long odds in going back to Vancouver, where the Canucks went 28-10-5 in the regular season. However Nashville responds, it’s going to have to be with grit if the Preds hope to make it a series again: Vancouver’s home building has been a defensive fortress.

The Odds

Puck Drop

When: Tuesday, April 30 at 10 p.m. EST

Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia

TV: TBS

Public Bets: 81% on Vancouver

Public Money: 81% on Vancouver

Odds courtesy of DraftKings, as of April 30th, 2024

Nashville Predators vs. Vancouver Canucks In-Season Trends

It’s been hard to find more of a “set it and forget it” than taking six goals or less at Rogers Arena. Over the past 17 games in Vancouver, only one — a 4-3 loss to Vegas — saw more than six goals scored in regulation. Of the other 16, 12 of them saw the under cash or push, with the other four only going over because of overtime.

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Despite that, Vancouver was actually an over team more often than not, playing to the over 41 times during the regular season. But they’ve got the right opponent to cash the under in Nashville; the Predators were a defense-first team that played under 40 times in the regular season and have scored just 10 goals in the series.

Players to Watch

Arturs Silovs gave an excellent performance in Game 4, especially when you consider that he’s Vancouver’s No. 3 option at goaltender. With Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith sidelined, the Canucks have had to turn to Silovs, who made the 10th start of his NHL career in Game 4.

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And that’s one reason why Nashville still has some hope in this series: young goaltenders are never a sure thing. Silovs stepped up big in Game 4, but there’s no guarantee that he repeats that performance. The pressure of trying to close a series could get to him and give Nashville a chance.

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Filip Forsberg needs to be more consistent for the Predators to mount a comeback. Forsberg scored in Game 2 and Game 4, but he managed just one assist in Game 1 and nothing at all in Game 3. Goals have been at a premium in this series, and it’s clear that’s going to continue throughout this series. Forsberg has to take advantage of his chances when they come.

The Pick

Even with Silovs in net instead of one of the Canucks’ more experienced goaltenders, it’s hard to see a path back for Nashville. The way the Predators lost Game 4 gave the look of a team that believes it’s finished. Nashville had its best chance to get the Canucks on the mat and let them up, and now they had back to a boisterous arena that’s anxious for a meeting with Edmonton.

The low odds on this game show how this series has mostly been evenly played. Nashville certainly hasn’t been overmatached in this series by any means. But the Predators hadn’t absorbed a crushing loss like Game 4 before any of the other games. With Vancouver having stolen both games in Nashville, it seems like the Canucks finish the job here.