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    Goal or No Goal — Could a Coach’s Challenge Have Prevented the Canucks’ Game 5 Loss?

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    Goal or No Goal — Could a Coach’s Challenge Have Prevented the Canucks’ Game 5 Loss?

    Roman Josi collides with Ian Cole and Arturs Silvos as the puck trickles into the net during the third period in Game 5.

    Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

    Rick Tocchet has done a lot of things right as coach of the Vancouver Canucks this year. But he’s the first to admit that he’s not perfect. 

    In many cases, he deals with his flaws by talking with people around him about what he could do differently, whether that’s dialogue with his players or other members of the Canucks coaching and management staff.

    But when it comes to requesting a coach’s challenge for goaltender interference, Tocchet is sticking to his guns. And on Tuesday, that may have cost the Canucks the opportunity to close out their first-round playoff series against the Nashville Predators.

    In an electric building filled with fans hoping to see their team’s first playoff series win on home ice since 2011, more than 40 minutes of scoreless hockey passed before Vancouver finally opened the scoring on an end-to-end rush by Nikita Zadorov at 3:11 of the third period.

    Just four minutes later, the Predators evened the score on a power-play goal that was credited to Roman Josi. 

    After the game, Vancouver goaltender Arturs Silovs said he did feel contact on the play but wasn’t sure who had bumped him. And Josi, the wily veteran captain, played coy.

    Tocchet said he and his staff thought it was a 50/50 play, suggesting the risk of a penalty in a 1-1 game wasn’t worth the potential reward. That’s consistent with the philosophy he has employed ever since he landed in Vancouver 15 months ago.

    In 2023-24, coaches made 82 challenges for goaltender interference. That’s a little more than two-and-a-half per team. 

    Tocchet definitely brings that average down. He has only made two goalie interference challenges in his time with the Canucks, one in each season. And to his credit, he was right on both. 

    As hockey people continue to grouse about not knowing what’s goaltender interference and what isn’t, Tocchet’s crew seems to have adopted a strategy of only challenging when the outcome is all-but-guaranteed in their favor.

    We also saw this decision-making in Game 1, when Thatcher Demko waved his glove in displeasure to indicate contact from Luke Evangelista on this power-play tally from Ryan O’Reilly.

    In that situation, the decision not to challenge became moot when the Canucks came back and earned a 4-2 win to grab Game 1.

    On Tuesday, though, Josi’s goal was a game-changer. The Predators eked out a 2-1 win to send the series back to Nashville for Game 6 on Friday.

    Were the stakes high enough on Tuesday that Tocchet should have been bolder?

    At best, not closing out the series quickly costs the Canucks rest time and puts more air miles on players’ bodies that are already feeling the effects of a physical series. 

    At worst, it allows an experienced opponent to stay alive in what has been a very evenly contested matchup. 

    Through five games, each side has scored 12 goals. Special teams are also pretty even: Vancouver is 2-for-13 on the power play, while Nashville is 2-for-19. Hit totals are close: 181-164 for the Canucks, blocked shots are 80-78 for Vancouver, and Nashville now holds a slight edge with 51 percent of the face-off wins after a strong night in the circle on Tuesday.

    All season long, Tocchet and his players have talked about sticking with their game plan — not pressing or deviating when they’re trailing late in games but remaining committed to what works and waiting for good things to happen.

    For the most part, that has paid off. And J.T. Miller, in particular, has frequently said the Canucks can be comfortable with a loss when they know they’ve played the right way. 

    It happens sometimes. And it has certainly happened in this series. The Canucks openly admitted they stole Game 4 in Nashville thanks to the late-game heroics from Brock Boeser and overtime-winner from Elias Lindholm. 

    They’ve had a tough time generating shots, but have still controlled 54.68 percent of expected goals at 5-on-5, per naturalstattrick.com — a sign that they are playing the right way, even when it looks a little ugly.

    Tocchet’s philosophy on challenges could be part and parcel of this approach. He seems to count on the fact that more scoring chances will come and, more often than not, his team will take advantage like they did in Game 1.

    On Tuesday, the Predators admitted they stole Game 5. But in this series, turnabout is fair play. 

    In a Stanley Cup first round that has been a little short on drama so far, this one’s starting to look like it’ll be a fight to the finish.

    Related: NHL Playoffs: Which Teams Survived Game 5, and Which Series Ended on Tuesday?

    Related: Meet Arturs Silovs, the Canucks’ International Man of Mystery

    Related: Ranking Each NHL Backup Who’s Played This Post-Season



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