Canucks’ First Round Playoff Opponent Revealed

The Vancouver Canucks’ opponent for the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs has been revealed.

Because the Dallas Stars took the St. Louis Blues to overtime, they locked up the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. That, by extension, locked the Canucks into place to face the Nashville Predators in the first round this year.

The Canucks still have to play the Winnipeg Jets to close out their regular season, and it’s unclear whether or not goalie Thatcher Demko will get another tune-up before the Stanley Cup playoffs kick off this weekend.

In any case, the Canucks are 4-0-0 in their last four games against Nashville and 6-4-0 in their last 10, but the two teams haven’t played against each other since Dec. 19.

It is also very important to consider that the Canucks‘ last game against Nashville was also well before the infamous U2 trip that was canceled. Since the All-Star break in January, the Predators have an astounding record of 21-7-3  and finished with an overall record of 47-30-5.

Their 99 points rank 11th in the NHL this season, though Vegas will have one last chance to surpass them in that regard. Nashville is only 4-5-1 in their last 10 games, but that’s hardly anything to worry about when compared to their overall body of work this season.

After all, the Predators are a team that nobody really considered to even have a chance of making the playoffs this season, let alone nearly finishing in the triple digits toward the end of April. The Canucks do have a decent matchup in this series, but they would be wise not to underestimate their opponents who have overcome the odds time and time again this season.

Especially after that U2 trip was canceled.

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