Canucks’ Nikita Zadorov on verge of insane playoff feat only done by Paul Coffey

The Vancouver Canucks are set to take on the Edmonton Oilers at home in a pivotal Game 5 on Thursday, and defenseman Nikita Zadorov has an opportunity to join Paul Coffey in exclusive company if he scores in the game, according to NHL.com.

In five home games these playoffs, Nikita Zadorov has four goals and three assists for seven points. That is a stretch that includes four straight games with a goal. If Zadorov scores in Game 5, he will become the second defenseman in Stanley Cup Playoffs history to score in five straight home games, according to NHL.com. Paul Coffey did it in 1985 with the Oilers, so it would be a bit ironic to tie that feat against them.

Of course, the 1985 Oilers were the second Stanley Cup team in the franchise’s history. The Canucks are hoping to pull off that accomplishment this year. Maybe Zadorov scoring a goal and tying that record would be a good omen for Vancouver.

Canucks’ wild playoff run so far

It has been a very eventful playoff run for the Canucks to this point. In the first round, they played the Nashville Predators and came out on top in six games, but not before two of their goalies got injured. Thatcher Demko got hurt and is still out, which caused Casey DeSmith to play in two games before he got hurt. As a result, the young Arturs Silovs has been in the net since then.

A lot of Vancouver’s wins have come in wild fashion as well. A notable one is Game 4 against the Predators, when the Canucks scored two late goals with the goalie pulled and then won in overtime by the score of 4-3. That is the epitome of stealing a game. It put Vancouver up 3-1 in the series, and the team eventually went on to win the series in Game 6. Arturs Silovs pitched a shutout and the Canucks won 1-0 to move on.

Game 1 against the Oilers was wild as well. The Canucks went down 4-1 in the game and entered the third period down 4-2. After goals by JT Miller, Zadorov and Conor Garland in the third period, the Canucks came away with a win. Zadorov and Conor Garland’s goals came within a minute of each other.

Both of these teams have a lot of offensive firepower, and it would not be a surprise to see another back-and-forth game on Thursday.

The good news for the Canucks is that Thatcher Demko reportedly has improved a lot when it comes to his injury recovery in recent days. It will be worth monitoring his status. Game 5 sees unlikely for him, but Games 6 and 7 seem in play, and that would be huge for Vancouver.

It will be interesting to see if Zadorov can put one in the net to tie Coffey’s record.