The last week of the regular season begins today as the Nashville Predators gather for practice before leaving on their last regular season road trip. The Preds play the rather disappointing Buffalo Sabres tomorrow night in western New York.
It was a fascinating weekend of play for the Predators, a critical win in Pittsburgh where Pekka Rinne seemed to finally exorcise the demons of PPG Paints Arena with a spectacular 42 save, win over the Penguins. It was vintage Rinne for a win that was a confidence booster for him and the team.
Then Saturday night came along and the Predators couldn’t buy a break in a disappointing 5-2 loss to a suddenly red hot Columbus team. Juuse Saros, after being scratched on Friday night due to illness, got the start and frankly, did not have a good outing. Weird puck bounces and shall we say, some creative officiating also added to a less than stellar result.
So… here we stand. Three games to go and the Central Division is still up for grabs after what I called a “Big Weekend for Positioning” in my Friday post. Nothing has really changed since Friday.
The Predators are playing three non-playoff teams to finish the season, at Buffalo, who hasn’t had a regulation win since February… then home to finish the regular season with Vancouver, who took down Dallas on Saturday night and Chicago on Saturday for Fan Appreciation Night.
Both teams that the Preds are fighting for position with are in action tonight, the Blues host Colorado tonight and Winnipeg visits Chicago… so the games-in-hand issue is resolved tonight. When looking at most likely playoff opponents, the chances of playing St. Louis are still high, but do keep dropping, they are now at 58% according to SportsClubStats.com. If the Preds go 3-0-0 this week, they have a 54% chance of taking the Central and a 95% chance of home ice advantage in a first round series.
Certainly, something to play for as the playoffs begin in just 10 short days.
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The
Where We Stand section
Nashville is in second place in the Central Division, tied in points with the Winnipeg Jets, Winnipeg holds a game in hand over Nashville. The Preds lead St. Louis (1 GIH) by two points.
Nashville has clinched their playoff spot and currently holds the 4 seed in the Western Conference playoff race. Here is the way the Western Conference playoffs would look if they started today…
1W Calgary vs WC2 Colorado
2W Winnipeg vs. WC1 Dallas
2C Nashville vs. 3C St. Louis
2P San Jose vs 3P Vegas (This series is locked and loaded)
According to SportsClubStats.com, the Predators chances of playing St. Louis in the first round stand at 58%, Dallas at 22.6% and Winnipeg at 17.7%.
Who’s In – Who’s Close
East – Tampa Bay, Washington, Boston and the New York Islanders have punched their playoff ticket. In playoff position as I write this is Pittsburgh, Toronto, Columbus and Carolina. Montreal is a point behind the Hurricanes and the only other Eastern team with a shot.
West – Calgary, Winnipeg, Nashville, San Jose, Vegas and St. Louis are in, Dallas and Colorado are in playoff position as I write this, Arizona is one point behind the Av’s, Minnesota is four points back of Colorado and fading.
Impact Games Tonight
7pm – COL @ STL (NBCSN) – While the Blues have clinched their playoff spot, Colorado is still fighting for theirs. St. Louis comes in off of a rather disheartening split in New York, a loss to the Islanders and needing overtime to beat the Devils. Colorado comes in on a bit of a roll, winning their last two and needing two points to stay ahead of Arizona.
7:30pm – WPG @ CHI – This is Winnipeg’s game in hand over Nashville and frankly… given the mess that Chicago is in, should be an easy win for the Jets… but Winnipeg is fighting a three game losing streak that has allowed Nashville and St. Louis to think they have a real chance at taking the division. A win tonight for the Jets puts the kibosh on that thinking, but the Jets are on the road for their last four with tonight being the front end of a back-to-back.
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Random Notes
- Milwaukee Update – The Admirals have put up a nice five game win streak as they took down Chicago on Saturday and Grand Rapids on Sunday.
- Lungs and Legs – Austin Watson put up four goals in two games for Milwaukee and was recalled prior to the Ad’s Sunday tilt. I would expect to see him in the lineup tomorrow night in Buffalo.
- Central – The division is still looking at five participants in the playoffs as both Dallas and Colorado have staked their claims to the wild card slots. Colorado’s game tonight is huge for their playoff chances.
- Calgary Clinches – The Calgary Flames have won the west, clinching last night with a win over San Jose. The Flames may be the hottest team in the west heading into the playoffs.
- Crow – Man… crow don’t taste good… since writing that the Blue Jackets “we don’t need no stinkin’ draft picks” strategy was looking shaky, the Jacket have won five straight, posting 24 goals and only giving up four.
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