The Nashville Predators (41-29-12) will face the St. Louis Blues (46-29-7) in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This match-up is a compelling one for a ton of reasons; both teams under-performed at different times in the regular season and saw the possibility of a missed postseason flash before their collective eyes before righting the ship. Both clubs fought tooth-and-nail for the third spot in the Central, and both teams are smaller markets looking to etch out a name for themselves after surprising series wins against established Western Conference teams. Not many pundits had Edmonton, Anaheim, St.Louis and Nashville moving on to the second round. We're in uncharted waters. The path is cleared of the usual suspects in the west, and the stage is set for a new power house to take control.
Both Nashville and St. Louis have endured nasty regular season slumps and goaltending woes. Jake Allen famously lost his marbles around the All-Star break, and during Rinne's struggles, some elements of the Predators fanbase were calling for Juuse Saros to swipe the starting gig from Pekka. In any case, Peter Laviolette has the Predators firing on all cylinders in the postseason, and they have been both defensively responsible and shot-focused, registering 49 shots against the Blackhawks in Game 3. If the Blues can't find offense early, this could turn into another "Let's see if Jake Allen can do everything by himself" series.
ROAD WARRIORS
Since Yeo was hired Feb. 1, the Blues have gone 17-4-1 on the road and have won nine of their last 10 counting three wins in upsetting Minnesota 4-1 in their first-round series. St. Louis lost twice in Nashville in games played before Yeo took over.
TIME TO SCORE
Four different Predators scored game-winning goals against Chicago, a sign of the depth that featured 12 different players scoring at least 10 goals during the regular season. That tied for the league lead. Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko, who tied for fourth in the NHL with 39 goals, had only one goal in the first round.
