Brock Boeser has been tearing it up for the Vancouver Canucks all year, and in the playoffs, the production hasn’t stopped. With the Nashville Predators possessing a 3-1 lead with less than 3 minutes left in the game, the 27-year-old put the team on his back and ensured that they would Tennesse with a win.
Boeser is in his eight season with the Canucks and produced a career-best 40 goals and 73 points. It was enough to earn him his second All-Star nod.
After the winger blasted a shot past Juuse Saros to give Vancouver an early lead in the 1st period, the Predators went on a run scoring a goal in the following two periods. As the clock ticked down, it appeared that the series would be tied up heading back to Western Canada.
Boeser had other plans.
With an empty net, the winger would force Saros to make the first move, resulting in the Canuck lifting the puck into the top of the net. Then with less than 10 seconds left in the game, Boeser would pounce on a rebound to force the game to overtime. The Canucks would go on to win in overtime and now head to Canada needing just one more win to advance to the next round.
“We’ve had a few scenarios this season where we’ve gotten some 6-on-5 goals,” said Boeser per The Province. “We kind of know the looks that we want. Sometimes they go in and sometimes they don’t. Luckily, they went in tonight.
“I just kind of saw an opportunity like to jam it and just try it, and it worked,” Boeser added regarding the game-tying goal.
While Boeser will be more than happy with the win, it was also a historic night for the winger. His postseason hat trick was the first of his NHL Career. Boeser is also just the sixth player in franchise history to secure a postseason hat trick.
Considering the way that the Predators ended up losing, it is hard to see them recovering. It was the proverbial nail in the coffin for the series. Even if Nashville is to win the next two games, they would still have to win Game 7 in Canada. The Canucks are also 5-0 all-time in the playoffs at Bridgestone Arena, so Nashville doesn’t even necessarily have a home-ice advantage.
If Boeser and the Canucks can continue to light the lamp as they did in Game 4, Nashville will stand no chance.
