Nikita Zadorov is a man of the world.
The big defenseman attributed the Vancouver Canucks’ comeback mentality in their 5-4 Game 1 win on Wednesday to the UEFA match between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich earlier in the day.
“(Madrid) came back to score two goals that they had to, to make the Champions League final,” he said with a chuckle. “That was our inspiration — or at least it was mine.”
A Moscow native, Zadorov has been playing hockey in North America for more than a decade. He also put in three years in Calgary before he was traded to Vancouver in November, so he’s fired up about this all-Canadian series between the Canucks and Oilers.
After a strong first round against Nashville, the big blueliner nearly blew the roof off Rogers Arena when he erased the Oilers’ 4-1 lead with a slapshot that deflected past Stuart Skinner with 6:13 remaining in the third period — completing his team’s comeback and setting the stage for Conor Garland’s game-winner just 39 seconds later.
BIG-TIME BLAST FROM BIG Z 🚀 pic.twitter.com/fdyV4LTkgg
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) May 9, 2024
“It was unreal,” Zadorov said of the crowd’s reaction to his goal. “It was so loud. And then we scored the fifth one right away, and it was even louder.”
Zadorov’s tying goal came less than six minutes after he and Leon Draisaitl took offsetting penalties for using their sticks on each other. That set up a 4-on-4 situation, midway through the third, where J.T. Miller got the Canucks back to within a goal,
At the next TV timeout, the game presentation crew paused all the bells and whistles and let the people take it away — on their feet, towels waving, chanting “Jay Tee Miller” like their lives depended on it.
JT MILLER CHANTS ARE MY FAVORITE#Canucks pic.twitter.com/NfaRP28hWz
— Y – Priya 🔥 (@Canuckstrom) May 9, 2024
The Canucks may not have a ton of playoff experience. But Zadorov has been through some heated Western Conference matchups, including Colorado’s six-game loss to Nashville in 2018 and two rounds with the Flames in 2022 that included the seven-game nail-biter against the Dallas Stars before the Flames were extinguished by the Oilers in five in the Battle of Alberta.
So Zadorov and his old Flames teammate Elias Lindholm might be drawing a little extra juice from memories of the last time they played playoff hockey, two years ago.
Both performed like they had something to prove on Wednesday. On top of his offense, Zadorov was also his usual agitating self, especially against his fellow No. 91, Evander Kane.
And Lindholm showed why the Canucks paid top dollar to bring him into the fold at the all-star break. He had a goal and an assist of his own to go along with five hits and a dominant 14-for-18 performance in the faceoff circle: 4-for-4 against McDavid, 4-for-5 against Draisaitl and 6-for-7 against Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Lindholm has matched Zadorov’s playoff output so far: both players have three goals and two assists in seven games.
LINDHOLM CUTS THE OILERS LEAD 👀 pic.twitter.com/SwGl9q3fbl
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 9, 2024
As the Oilers were pressing to force overtime in the dying seconds, Lindholm said the crowd was so loud that the Edmonton bench couldn’t alert the players on the ice to how much time was remaining.
“The crowd was really good for us,” he said.
Zadorov concurred.
“I think this is the loudest building I’ve ever been to,” he said. “It’s awesome. Every time they sing the Canadian anthem — the towels and everything — the intro gives me flashbacks of 2011. It’s great to see. The fans are unbelievable here for sure.”
With Daniel and Henrik Sedin on the ice at practice every day, Vancouver’s last trip to the Stanley Cup final is never too far from the mind of anyone around the Canucks. For this year’s games, the team is also leaning into its faces and traditions from that run.
Ryan Kesler was in the house for Game 2 against Nashville, and his son, Ryker, was the Towel Kid who got the pre-game intro started — alone, in a spotlight at center ice, amidst the familiar strains of U2’s Where the Streets Have No Name.
For Game 1 against Edmonton, it was Mason Raymond cranking the opening siren after his son, Max, did the same honors.
Kicking off Round 2, we welcome tonight’s Towel Kid, Max, son of Mason Raymond! pic.twitter.com/f3BBGblZ4y
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) May 9, 2024
After some early hiccups on the ice on Wednesday, the Canucks showed they can defend against McDavid and company. They allowed just 18 shots in the game, only eight in the final two periods, and gave up just five high-danger chances all night.
Once again, they showed why their theme word for these playoffs is ‘resilience.’
“There’s a lot of belief in this group,” Zadorov said. “We’ve done it before against Nashville. I don’t think anybody was giving up, even when we were down 4-1. We were staying positive because we liked our 5-on-5 game. They got a couple of bounces.”
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News Summary:
- 'Loudest Building I've Ever Been To': Canucks Fans Bring the Best Out of Nikita Zadorov
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