from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,
Having won the hard way in Nashville, the Vancouver Canucks lost the hard way at home.
And now they’re making another hard trip three-quarters of the way across the continent that no one in Vancouver wanted.
With the chance to close out the Nashville Predators and win a Stanley Cup playoff series on home ice for the first time since 2011, the Canucks blew a third-period lead Tuesday in Game 5 and lost 2-1, forcing Game 6 and that long trudge back to Tennessee.
The late reversal came one game after the Canucks stunned the Predators by scoring twice with their goalie on the bench and then winning 4-3 in overtime on Sunday to take a 3-1 lead in the National Hockey League’s opening playoff round.
Winning is hard. Losing can feel even harder.
“Listen, you need to prepare like you're going to play seven games every single series,” Canuck defenceman Ian Cole said. “If you play less than that, great. If you finish early, great. But be prepared to play seven.
“Whether we want to get on the plane or not? That's just kind of a prima-donna attitude. That's bulls***. Just go and win the freakin' game. Of course, no one wants to fly back across the country, but this is the matchup that we have. If we need to win in six games, you win in six games. If we win in seven games, we win in seven games. We just need to win the series. That's all that matters. We win this series, we move on and then we've got to win the next series. Like, that's all that matters. Whether we do that here, whether we do it Nashville, whether we do that in five games or six games or seven games, it doesn’t matter. Just win the series.”
Game highlights are below.