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NHL Playoffs 2018: Predators vs. Avalanche preview, prediction

By Dave Stevenson

DENVER, CO - MARCH 16: Nathan MacKinnon #29 of the Colorado Avalanche faces off against Mike Fisher #12 of the Nashville Predators at the Pepsi Center on March 16, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - MARCH 16: Nathan MacKinnon #29 of the Colorado Avalanche faces off against Mike Fisher #12 of the Nashville Predators at the Pepsi Center on March 16, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Two of the NHL’s most dynamic offenses square off in the NHL Playoffs 2018 when the Nashville Predators take on the Colorado Avalanche

Last season, the Nashville Predators came into the postseason as the eighth-seed in the Western Conference. They made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. So it’s a bit ironic to see them, just a year later, being the President’s Trophy winners and facing the eighth-seed Colorado Avalanche in the NHL Playoffs 2018.

Nashville is every bit as good as their regular season title suggests. They finished seventh in the NHL in scoring and second in the league in fewest goals against. The Preds are a very deep team, especially on defense. Most great teams have an elite forward. Someone like Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid. Nashville doesn’t, and that’s fine because they have a bunch of really good forwards.

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P.K. Subban is a dark horse Norris Trophy candidate. Roman Josi is one of the better defensemen in the NHL. Mattias Ekholm is in the discussion for “most underrated blueliner in the league”. Ryan Ellis is solid. When those four guys are your top four defensemen, your third pairing doesn’t need to be that good. But for good measure, the Preds have a surprisingly good one. Goaltender Pekka Rinne covers up a lot of Nashville’s flaws.

The Colorado Avalanche are roughly12 months removed from being the worst team of the salary cap era. But thanks to some patience from general manager Joe Sakic, the Avs are this season’s biggest surprise. Yes, even bigger than the Vegas Golden Knights.

Colorado relies very heavily on their top three forwards. Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Gabriel Landeskog. This trio scored 93 of the Avs’ 253 goals or roughly 36.1 percent. Tyson Barrie has 57 points. Alexander Kerfoot is their only other player with over 40 points. By comparison, Nashville has eight players with 40 or more points.

Why Colorado can win: The Avalanche can plausibly pull off the massive upset. However, it’s very hard to see them doing so without MacKinnon, Landeskog, and Rantanen dominating. The Preds are going to be focusing a ton of effort on that line. Unless Colorado’s other players can take advantage (which they didn’t do too well in the regular season), this one should be over soon.

Next: Power Ranking the Stanley Cup Playoff Teams

Why Nashville will win: They are better than Colorado in just about every aspect. Avs goaltender Semyon Varlamov’s injury gives them a significant advantage in every category. Colorado needs to win on the road and that’s something they didn’t do in the regular season (15-19-7 record).

Prediction: Predators in five.

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