Canucks-Predators series preview.

 1P Canucks vs Predators 1WC

Now for the first of the West Matchups we have a really intriguing Central vs Pacific matchup as the Vancouver Canucks who were a pleasant surprise and dominated this year and won the Pacific play the Nashville Predators who were one of the hottest teams since the beginning of March.

History of Rivalry between teams in playoffs: 

Now the Canucks who won the Pacific Division take on the Preds who were first Wildcard in the West, so this is going to be the second all time match up between the Canucks and the Predators, the only other time these two teams have played was when the Canucks went to their third cup final back in 2011 against the Boston Bruins, as they wound up beating the Predators in round two so that was a really good matchup and that was the only time the Canucks and Predators have played in the playoffs, so we'll see if the Canucks are able to remain undefeated against the Predators in the playoffs 

Season Series Record: 

Vancouver 3-0-0 13-6+7

Nashville 0-3-0 6-13-7

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Each Teams X-Factors: Saros vs Pettersson

Next, I am discussing the X-Factors in my opinion for this series for both Nashville and Vancouver. Now on the Predators side I think their all star goalie in Saros is the X-Factor for the Predators as Nashville hasn't been a overly great scoring team this year just like they were last year and in both seasons Saros has been able to cover for them being a less offensive team, so if Saros is his usual top 10 goalie in the NHL self then I feel the Predators may have a shot in this series, but if he is around average then I don't really like their chances, while for Vancouver Pettersson is their X-Factor in my opinion as early in the year Pettersson was looking great and was a few points over a point per game and looked dangerous, but in the 2nd half of the year (especially after signing his new contract) he hasn't looked quite as dangerous and also hasn't been as productive, so if Pettersson can find his game from early in the year then I think Vancouver should win this series, but if he continues to struggle then I think they will have trouble winning this series.

Which teams are best at 3 Positions: 

Offence: so offensively the Canucks have the way better offense and I mean the Preds have some really good offensive weapons such as Forsberg, Novak has been really very good this year and they do have some good players on the offensive side but they're really a one line team with Forsberg, Nyquist and O'Reilly and if the Canucks are able to shut down that offensive line, I think the Canucks have a way better team and in my opinion top to bottom Vancouver has the better offense.

Defense: now defensively I'll probably give the slight edge to Nashville, they have guys like Josi, McDonagh, they have guys who know how to win so I definitely think the Predators do have the better top to bottom defense, but I think the Canucks have a pretty good defense too especially with Hughes but I would give the edge defensively to Nashville.

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Goaltending: goaltending wise this is really even split between Demko and Soros, both these goalies are extremely good top 10 goalies in the NHL, but in this series here I'll probably give the extremely slight Edge to the Predators just given the fact of how good Soros is but that's no offense to Demko as he is great, but I think that's more of a toss up in goal as to who has the edge.

Biggest on Ice Matchup: Canucks Defense/Demko vs Preds bottom 6

Now as for the biggest on ice matchup I am intrigued by, that would be the Canucks defense against the Predators depth scoring. Now I have talked about this a lot this year and that is the fact that the Canucks don't have the greatest of bluelines and even though they have vets like Myers, Cole and Zadorov, I strongly feel this is probably the Canucks biggest weakness even with Demko in goal, while the Preds I have been saying are a one line team and haven't gotten a ton of scoring on a consistent bases outside of Forsberg, Nyquist and O'Reilly, so getting some contributions from different parts of the lineup is a must in the Playoffs for the Preds, and in my eyes whoever wins this battle between Nashville's defense and Vancouver's offense will be placed in a strong position to win this series.

Predictions

So in my opinion this will be a tight Series and this will be an interesting series and I might be a little bit wrong for picking this but I have the Canucks winning in five games, I think the Predators might be able to squeeze one more win out of it make it a six game series but in my opinion I think the Canucks have a much better team and they should definitely be able to make the second round so I have the Canucks winning in five games.