Game 4 was over. The Nashville Predators had a two-goal lead late in the third period and a stranglehold on puck possession, giving the Vancouver Canucks nothing to work with. It seemed unlikely that the Canucks could get two shots on goal in the final three minutes, let alone two actual goals.

That’s what made the Canucks comeback so incredible in the original sense of the word. It was impossible to believe that they actually did it. If you had stopped watching that game with three minutes left and another fan told you the Canucks came back to win the game, you would dismiss that fan, saying, “That guy just isn’t credible.”

But they did it.

Brock Boeser scored two goals in the final three minutes of regulation, Colton Sissons hit the post on an empty net, and Elias Lindholm ended it in overtime.

The Canucks played one of their worst games of the season and it somehow turned into one of the greatest games in franchise history. It’s funny how the playoffs work.

It was a madcap four minutes of action and it deserves a proper breakdown, which means it’s time for a fan-favourite feature here at Pass it to Bulis: Breakdowning.

With three minutes left in the third period, the Canucks have pulled Arturs Silovs for the extra attacker. They’ve gained the zone in an unorthodox but onside manner — Elias Pettersson hit J.T. Miller in the back with his attempted dump-in and the puck bounced into the middle of the ice where Filip Hronek retrieved it.

The Predators have their top line of Gustav Nyquist, Ryan O’Reilly, and Filip Forsberg on the ice, with their second pairing of Jeremy Lauzon and Alexandre Carrier on defence. This is their shutdown pair — more defensively reliable than Roman Josi’s top pair.

With the net empty, the Canucks have all of their stars on the ice: the Lotto Line of Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, and J.T. Miller and their top pair of Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek, with Elias Lindholm as the extra attacker.

The Canucks have spread the ice as much as possible to try to take advantage of the 6-on-5, while the Predators are in pseudo-penalty killing formation, with one-time Selke winner O’Reilly locking down the middle of the ice.

Here’s where things start to go wrong for the Predators.

Nyquist gives Hughes a respectable amount of distance at the point, just as the Predators have done all series. He definitely does not want to overcommit and be made to look like a fool by Hughes’ elite stickhandling and skating — THIS IS FORESHADOWING.

But when Hughes moves the puck to Hronek, Forsberg dives in like Laso Schaller, looking to pressure Hronek into a turnover. But Hronek is calm and confident with the puck and quickly moves it to Boeser on the far boards.

Forsberg’s dive in, however, opens up some space and forces a defensive rotation for the Predators.

O’Reilly is forced out of the slot to challenge Boeser, leaving Nyquist to rotate down into the slot to ensure the guts of the ice are covered. Forsberg being so high in the zone opens up a big ol’ passing lane back to Hughes, who now has acres of space at the point thanks to Nyquist moving down.

There’s a random fan in a puffy green vest in the crowd, which is a weird choice. Someone else in green is going to show up later. What’s the deal?

Hughes uses the space given to him to move into the middle of the ice as the Predators’ forwards collapse back to the middle, with O’Reilly leaving Boeser at the far boards to cover the rails.

In front of the net, Lindholm pushes off Carrier to give himself a little more room. Pettersson, meanwhile, starts to move into the slot.

On the near boards, Miller, after staying as still as possible so the Predators couldn’t see him — their vision is based on movement — darts to the top of the left faceoff circle. The Canucks are about to run one of their go-to plays on the power play. Sort of.

The Canucks love to have Miller coming downhill on the left side on the power play, looking to either shoot or send a pass into the bumper and the concept is essentially the same at 6-on-5. Miller even scored on this exact shot in Game 3, firing a puck glove side past a screened Saros.

That’s why it makes perfect sense for Carrier to leave Lindholm and go for the block. Forsberg too comes across to get his stick in the lane, while O’Reilly gets his stick down to take away the cross-seam pass to Boeser.

Pettersson is there in the slot to clean up a potential rebound or tip in a slap pass, so Lauzon preemptively moves out to cover him, ready to tie up his stick.

The red line is where the Predators are expecting the puck to go and for good reason: Miller is facing the goal, has his leg kicked to give himself extra torque on his stick for a wrist shot, and he’s only got eyes for the net. But the blue line is where the puck is actually going to go, as Miller executes a beautiful no-look pass.

Here’s the consequence of the Predators trying to front every shot: there’s suddenly a 3-on-1 down low.

Lauzon does his best to take away both Pettersson and the passing lane but can’t get his stick down in time. Lindholm slips the puck underneath his stick to Boeser at the backdoor. Despite a brief bobble, Boeser remains poised and deposits the puck in the net.

Here’s another look at the key moment for this goal:

Miller has four options from the top of the faceoff circle here: he can try to pass across to an open Boeser; he can try a slap pass to Pettersson for the tip; he can try to shoot; or he can pass it down low to Lindholm.

The Predators take away three of those four options: O’Reilly is in the lane to Boeser; Forsberg is in the lane to Pettersson, with Lauzon ready to tie up Pettersson’s stick; and Carrier is in the shooting lane to the net.

That leaves just one option but because Carrier has committed to the shot block, it’s a very good option.