With only one game left in the regular season, the Predators still don't know for sure who they'll face in the playoffs.
But they should be pretty happy with their level of play.
The Pres (47-29-5) enter Monday's game at Pittsburgh with a 3-0-1 record in their last four games. Nashville won its second straight game over the weekend, improving to 5-1. In Chicago, they defeated Columbus 6-4.
Dating back to the start of a franchise-record 18-game winning streak, the Predators are 20-4-3 in their last 27 games, going from outside the Western Conference playoffs to qualifying for the postseason last week. It surfaced by then.
“It's been a really fun season,” Predators captain Roman Josi said. “There have been so many changes this year…We have never worried about the result. Our main goal has been to improve every game and connect as a team. It's so cool to see how it all came together.
“When you're playing well, you feel like you're playing a complete team game,” Joshi added. We need him, we need four lines, we need all of our D-men. I think that's why I enjoyed this year so much. It was a complete team effort from start to finish. I think that's why we made it to the playoffs. ”
The Predators can decide their own fate by scoring at least one point against Pittsburgh.
This locks up the top spot in the Western Conference Wild Card, ensuring the Pres will open the season against the Western Conference division champion with the second-best record. Most likely it will be Vancouver. In fact, the Pres and Canucks have a 76 percent chance of meeting in the first round, according to the Playoff Status website.
Vancouver won all three regular season games against the Predators this season, defeating Nashville 13-6. But the Pres haven't faced the Canucks since Dec. 19, when Nashville was just 18-14-0.
The Predators are a different team these days.
Forward Filip Forsberg enters the regular season finale with a franchise-high 47 goals, while Josi leads NHL defensemen with 23 goals and ranks third among league blueliners in scoring (85 points). . Forward Ryan O'Reilly (26 goals, 42 assists, 68 points) had the second-most points of his 15-year career. Forward Gustav Nyquist (22 goals, 52 assists, 74 points) improved his career high from last season by 14 points.
Nashville has scored on 5-of-6 man-advantage opportunities over the past two games, and even their sometimes-crunchy power play has been reinvigorated of late.
“We're going to need that in the playoffs,” Josi said Saturday after the Preds scored two goals on the power play. “That’s huge for our confidence.”
The Pres are playing much better at home than they were earlier in the season.
Nashville went 14-15-0 at Bridgestone Arena through the first four months of the season, but the Predators are 9-1-2 in their last 10 home games.
“[The fans have] They’ve gotten us this far through a series of home games,” Pres coach Andrew Brunette said. “It's fun to see it all. It's fun to hear the crowd. It's fun to feel the bench shaking, and I'm really looking forward to playing a playoff game here.”
