The Nashville
Predators look poised for another deep run in the 2019 Stanley
Cup playoffs. But Tyler Seguin and
the Dallas Stars are
standing in their way in the first round. Who will take this series? Let's
break it down:
HOW THEY GOT HERE: The Predators staved off the
surging St. Louis
Blues and the slumping Winnipeg Jets to
clinch the Central Division title, but there's been an elephant in the room
when discussing Nashville's season: Though the Preds are as good on paper as
they've ever been, they haven't looked quite right. Nashville endured some
early injuries, including to its top two wingers, Viktor
Arvidsson and Filip
Forsberg. The power play has been, at times, a pain to watch. The
midseason acquisitions did not jell quite like general manager David Poile
imagined. And yet, the Predators persevered, thanks in part to having one of
the league's most elite and complete defensive groups. Goaltender Pekka Rinne has
looked typically solid.
No matter how it ultimately ends, this Stars' season likely
will be remembered as the one where the team's CEO, Jim Lites, called out its
two star players in a profanity-filled rant. Farm animal excrement aside, the
Stars continued on, adjusting to their third coach in as many years and earning
a playoff berth without collapsing, as they did late last season. Offense has
been hard to come by for this group, but rookie head coach Jim
Montgomery pivoted from his initial game plan, honing in on a
tough-checking defensive structure that worked. Goaltending, between primary
starter Ben Bishopand
backup Anton
Khudobin, has been spectacular.
FIRST LINE: Talent-wise, Dallas has an elite
first line, though Jamie Benn's
production has slipped this season (only 53 points, down from 79 last season).
Seguin rebounded from his CEO's criticism, reaching 80 points for the first
time since 2013-14, his first season in Dallas. (Seguin had 48 points in 44
games since the infamous callout). Both Forsberg and Arvidsson missed time in
the fall, which is a shame; Arvidsson was close to being Nashville's first
40-goal scorer (he ended up with 34 in just 58 games played). Advantage:
tie
DEPTH: The Stars scored just 209 goals this
season, third fewest in the league, and 89 of them (nearly 43 percent) came
from the top line. Though Dallas may get a jolt from trade-deadline
acquisition Mats
Zuccarello, the bottom nine don't strike much fear. Nashville hasn't
received the production it expected from players it traded for over the past
two seasons, including second-line center Kyle Turris (23
points in 53 games), rental Wayne
Simmonds (three points in 17 games) or Mikael
Granlund (five points in 16 games). They're still deeper than
the Stars are. Advantage: Predators
DEFENSE: The Predators' top four are often
lauded as the league's most complete quartet. The Predators get some extra help
via Dante Fabbro,
the 2016 first-round pick who finally arrived from college. The Stars' blue
line -- bolstered by breakout performances from 19-year-old Miro
Heiskanen (23:06 in ice time per game) and 24-year-old Esa Lindell (24:19)
-- has been equally stingy, finishing in the top five leaguewide in goals allowed
per game. Advantage: tie
GOALTENDING: Bishop hasn't played in the
postseason since 2016, and he looks poised to do some damage again. Bishop is
garnering serious Vezina Trophy consideration after an excellent season, going
27-15-2 with a .934 save percentage and 1.98 goals-against average. Rinne,
meanwhile, is the reigning Vezina winner who had another strong campaign. He's
looking to avoid another postseason flop, though. Advantage: tie
COACHING: Rookie NHL coach Jim Montgomery wanted
the Stars to generate offense as an uptempo, possession team, but he had to
adjust based off the personnel. Instead, Dallas ran a tight-checking defensive
structure, which was effective if not exciting. In his previous stops,
Montgomery has a history of magical postseason runs. Peter Laviolette,
meanwhile, is more seasoned, having accumulated 229 wins over 410 games with
the Predators. Laviolette is known for tweaking his lineups to find the right
matchups come playoff time. Advantage: Predators
HEALTH: Both teams had to weather injuries
earlier in the season, but they aren't managing anything significant at this
moment. Advantage: tie
SPECIAL TEAMS: One of the hardest things to
watch this season was the Predators' power play, which was dreadful -- hitting
at a league-worst 12.9 percent. The additions of Brian Boyle and
Simmonds were expected to help, but they haven't yielded much thus far. The
Stars were above league average at 21.0 percent. Both teams boast excellent,
top-10 penalty kills. Advantage: Stars
PREDICTION: PREDATORS IN SIX
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