Canucks coach Rick Tocchet defended his decision not to use a coach’s challenge to review the Predators‘ tying goal in Nashville’s eventual 2-1 Game 5 victory in Vancouver on Tuesday night.
At 7:15 of the third period, with Vancouver’s Dakota Joshua in the box for boarding, Predators defenseman Roman Josi went hard to the Canucks net and made contact with goalie Arturs Silovs. The puck ended up behind Silovs, who scrambled to find it.
Both Vancouver forward Teddy Blueger and Nashville winger Gustav Nyquist crashed the crease, and the momentum pushed Silovs into the puck, forcing it over the goal line for a Nashville power-play score.
“I’m sure they took a look at it,” said Josi, who scored his first goal of the playoffs. “I tried to go around the goalie. [The puck] just somehow laid there. I don’t know what happened after. But I laid there, I saw that it went in. That’s all that matters.”
Nashville would score the game-winning goal 5 minutes, 31 seconds later on an Alexandre Carrier shot, cutting Vancouver’s first-round series lead to 3-2.
“If we’re down 2-1, then maybe [I’d challenge]. But it’s 50-50 at that point,” Tocchet explained after the game. “We just looked at it. I don’t know what the NHL would do on that one. I don’t. So, if I don’t know 100 percent … it’s a 1-1 game. We thought about it, but I thought it was 50-50, personally.”
According to Scouting The Refs, the Canucks issued only one coach’s challenge in the regular season for goalie interference.
If Tocchet guessed wrong and the goal stood after review, Vancouver would have been given a minor penalty for delay of game. But some fans felt it would have been worth the gamble in Game 5.
Until Josi’s power-play goal on that scoring play, Nashville had one power-play goal on 18 opportunities.
“Our penalty kill did a great job until that goal on that weird play,” Canucks forward J.T. Miller said.
The Predators avoided elimination, pushing the series to a Game 6 in Nashville on Friday.
“I’m proud of the resiliency they showed,” Preds coach Andrew Brunette said. “They stuck with it. The message was that it might take forever but to keep pounding on the door. I think they did a really good job staying true to themselves.”
TOKYO — For two days in Japan, it’s the Hanshin Tigers who have looked like the class of the National League.
In another sign that Japanese baseball has never been better, the Tigers capped a two-game sweep over MLB clubs with a 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday at the Tokyo Dome.
Even more impressive, the Tigers didn’t give up a run in either game. Daichi Ishii recorded the final out, freezing James Outman for strike three on a 95 mph fastball to cap 18 scoreless innings in a row.
“These two days were priceless,” Hanshin manager Kyuji Fujikawa said through an interpreter.
Hanshin tagged two-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell for three runs in the fourth inning when the first two batters reached base before Teruaki Sato smoked a three-run homer into the right-field seats, where a jubilant Tigers fan club erupted in celebration.
On the mound, right-hander Hiroto Saiki threw five dominant innings, giving up just one hit and one walk while striking out seven. Saiki struck out Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani to start the game and coaxed a harmless popup from the slugger in the fourth.
“Really good ballclub,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I thought they played really good defense. They can handle velocity, good with the fastball. The starter [Saiki] had major league stuff. Good command, good split. And then Sato, he looks the part. He’s a really impressive baseball player.”
Saiki was one of the best pitchers in Japan last season, finishing with a 13-3 record and a 1.88 ERA over 167⅔ innings. The Tigers had a 74-63 record last season, which was good for second place in Japan’s Central League.
The Tigers started the two-game sweep with a 3-0 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday after 20-year-old lefty Keito Mombetsu threw five perfect innings. No Cubs player reached base until Miguel Amaya smacked a single through the infield in the sixth that just got past the shortstop.
Hanshin also dominated on the basepaths against the Cubs, going 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts.
“They clearly showed they can play at the top level,” Roberts said.
Japanese players have made a huge mark on MLB, particularly over the past three decades. Former Mariners star Ichiro Suzuki was recently elected to the Hall of Fame, and this week’s Tokyo Series features five Japanese players, including three on the Dodgers with Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.
Skenes is coming off a dominant performance in his first season in the majors. The 22-year-old right-hander went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts for Pittsburgh in 2024, winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award.
The Pirates posted a video on social media on Saturday that showed Shelton informing Skenes of his decision.
In the video, Skenes walks into Shelton’s office and answers a couple questions about how his bullpen went and how he was feeling. Shelton later got up from behind his desk and informed Skenes he would be starting March 27 at Miami. He shook hands with Skenes and gave him a hug.
“Congrats, brother,” Shelton said to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft.
“Appreciate it,” Skenes responded.
The 22-year-old Skenes has been working on incorporating a cutter and a running two-seam fastball to go along with his blazing four-seam fastball.
The Ottawa Senators have opened up a nice gap as the first wild card, with 75 points and 26 regulation wins in 65 games. Beyond them, things get interesting.
If it comes down to the regulation-wins tiebreaker at season’s end, the Rangers have an upper hand over all the rest, with 29 in that column, compared with 23 for the Jackets, Red Wings and Bruins, and just 22 for the Habs.
The Canadiens host the Panthers also at 7 p.m. (NHL Network)
The Blue Jackets face the visiting Rangers also at 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
And if they have their sights set on catching the Senators, these clubs are all rooting for the Maple Leafs, who host Ottawa (7 p.m., ESPN+). It’s a great night for multiple streaming devices!
There is a lot of runway left until April 17, the final day of the regular season, and we’ll help you track it all with the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide details on all the playoff races, along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Points: 62 Regulation wins: 23 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 15 Points pace: 75.9 Next game: vs. WPG (Sunday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 22
Points: 45 Regulation wins: 13 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 15 Points pace: 55.1 Next game: vs. WSH (Saturday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 5
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process are here. Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters, is No. 1 on the draft board.