What seemed more likely over the past few weeks is now official.
The Predators (47-30-5) will open the NHL playoffs against the Vancouver Canucks (50-22-9), winners of the Western Conference's Pacific Division.
The pairing was sealed late Wednesday after Dallas defeated St. Louis 2-1 in overtime to earn the conference's best record.
The Canucks finished as the second-place division champion in the conference and will enjoy home ice advantage against the conference-leading Wild Card Predators.
The date and time for the Best of 7 series will be announced on Thursday.
In theory, the first of the two games in Vancouver could be played Saturday, when the league playoffs begin. But it's almost certain that won't happen, as Nashville needs time to make the long flight to the Pacific Northwest and the Canucks finish the regular season in Winnipeg on Thursday.
Media speculation has centered on the first leg being played on Sunday or Tuesday. If the series begins Sunday, Game 3 in Nashville would likely be Friday, April 26. The Predators were unable to play at Bridgestone Arena on April 25 due to a Tim McGraw concert.
The Canucks have won all three meetings between the teams this season, defeating the Predators 3-2 on October 24th, 5-2 on October 31st, and 5-2 on December 19th. .
But Nashville was a much different team at that point. The Predators were 18-14-0 as of December 20, falling outside of the playoffs. Since then, the team has recorded him 29-16-5, including a franchise-record 18-game point streak (16-0-2) during his four-month span. It contains.
“Vancouver had a great year,” Predators captain Roman Josi said. “They are great offensively and have a lot of skilled players.”
Added Predators center Ryan O'Reilly: [we haven’t played them in a while] I mean we're a much different team than when we played them all three games… They played us well. [we’ve got] It's a chance to get back at them and fight back. ”
The Canucks are led from the front by forward JT Miller, who has scored 103 points (37 goals and 66 assists), which ranks eighth in the league. Three other Vancouver players surpassed the 70-point mark: defenseman Quinn Hughes (91 points), forward Elias Pettersson (89 points) and forward Brock Boeser (73 points).
Hughes (17 goals, 74 assists) is considered the favorite to win the Norris Trophy, given to the league's top defenseman, as he leads all blueliners in total points and assists.
Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko is tied for sixth in the NHL (tied with Nashville's Juice Saros) with 35 wins this season. Demko's .918 save percentage and 2.44 goals-against average rank second and fourth, respectively, among netminders who have played at least 30 games.
The Canucks rank seventh in points per game with 3.42 and fifth in points allowed per game with 2.68. Vancouver's power play (22.5 percent success rate) was 10.th The Canucks' penalty kill (78.8 percent) ranks 20th in the league.th.
This series will be a tough challenge for the Pres, who will face Vancouver in the playoffs for the first time since 2011, when Nashville lost in six games (five of those games were decided by one goal).
“We're the underdogs,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said Wednesday afternoon, knowing his team would play either Vancouver or Dallas.
“We're given our job, so let's just do it. It's kind of the same mentality we've had all year. We just have to go straight ahead. ”
