Vancouver Canucks to face Nashville Predators in opening round of playoffs

With the NHL playoffs just around the corner, the Vancouver Canucks will be squaring off against Nashville in the opening round.

The two teams have met before in the post-season, but never in the first round.

In 2011, during Vancouver’s run to the Stanley Cup final, the Canucks defeated Nashville in six games, albeit in the second round.

This season, the two teams met three times — twice in October and once in December — with Vancouver winning all three.

The Canucks won 3-2 in Nashville on Oct 24, then posted a 5-2 home-ice victory on Oct. 31. In their final meeting, on Dec. 19, Vancouver completed the series sweep with a 5-2 win in Nashville.

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Elias Pettersson tallied four goals in the three games while captain Quinn Hughes had six assists.

For Nashville, North Vancouver product Colton Sissons had two goals. The 6-1 centre, who played junior hockey with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets, is in his 10th NHL season.

Neither franchise has won hockey’s biggest prize.

Vancouver has appeared in the final three times: 1982, 1994 and 2011, with the last two both going seven games.

Nashville has just one Stanley Cup appearance: 2017, when the Predators fell to Pittsburgh in six games.

The playoff schedule has not been released at this time.

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