Nashville Predators vs. Chicago Blackhawks Predictions, Picks and Preview – 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Western Conference First Round Game One – April 13, 2017
The Nashville Predators got it going just in time to lock up the second wild card sport in the west by finishing with a 9-5-1 record in their final 15 games of the regular season.
The new-look Predators are anchored by their formidable defensive corps. The offseason deal wherin former Norris Trophy winner P.K. Subban was acquired from Winnipeg in exchange for former team captain Shea Weber seems to have paid off for them. Subban (40 points in the regular season) along with returning All-Star Roman Josi (49 points), dealt plenty of damage on the attack from the blue line, which translated to Nashville averaging 2.90 goals scored per contest.
However, will the Preds’ scoring ways from the regular season carry over into the playoffs? In eight of 14 postseason games last year, they managed to score two or fewer points, and that ultimately led to yet another second-round exit.
In turn, Nashville’s playoff run will largely fall on the shoulders of goalie Pekka Rinne. The Finnish veteran ended up with just 31 wins this regular season – his lowest in three years – but clamped down at the tail end of the season with a .932 save percentage and 1.98 goals-against average in his last 13 starts. On the other hand, Rinne has a mediocre 2.51 GAA in 48-career playoff games.
Further hindering the Predators’ chances of stunning the Blackhawks this Thursday is that Game 1 will be held in the Windy City. The Preds finished the regular season with a 17-20-4 road record, which is the worst amongst all playoff teams.
Looking to win their fourth Stanley Cup in less than a decade are the Chicago Blackhawks, who finished with 109 points in the regular season to claim the top seed in the Western Conference.
The Blackhawks could not have asked for a better first-round opponent in Nashville, whom they’ve beaten in four of five regular-season meetings by a combined score of 18-10.
This year’s squad is pretty much the same team that defeated the Predators in six games two times over; both during the first round of the playoffs during their championship-winning runs in 2010 and 2015. Chicago’s core of standouts during those campaigns – Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith and Corey Crawford – haven’t lost a step at all this season.
Kane, in particular, will be called upon once again to give the Preds nightmares. He finished tied for second in the league with 89 points in the regular season, having racked up a superb 22 points in 16 games in March to give him great momentum heading into the postseason. Not only that, but the former MVP also has amassed 121 points in 123-career postseason starts.
That goes without saying that the ‘Hawks also have youth on their side. Defending Rookie of the Year Artemi Panarin had another stellar season (74 points), and the team’s rookies also combined for 105 points in the regular season.
Simply put, Chicago has all the right pieces to make another solid run at the Stanley Cup; let alone start their postseason with a bang by taking care of the visiting Predators with ease in Game 1 this Thursday night.
Writer’s Prediction
The Blackhawks (-170) re-accommodate the Predators’ bloody carcass out of the United Center, 3-1.
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