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Nashville Predators Look To Survive The Tank

By Zachary Elrod

May 9, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne (35) celebrates with defenseman Roman Josi (59) after defeating the San Jose Sharks during the overtime period in game six of the second round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bridgestone Arena. The Predators won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
May 9, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne (35) celebrates with defenseman Roman Josi (59) after defeating the San Jose Sharks during the overtime period in game six of the second round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bridgestone Arena. The Predators won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Nashville Predators look to win Game 7 in the Shark Tank.

Why not us? Why can’t this be our year?

The Nashville Predators are one win away from advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history. The Preds have already won their first Game 7 and their first OT playoff win in Bridgestone Arena, so what makes us think we won’t win Game 7? That feeling of uncertainty is known as the Shark Tank.

The Nashville Predators are 0-7 at the SAP Center, the Shark Tank, in their playoff history. But, Nashville also lost those two previous series in five games. This time around will be different. Nashville has been side-by-side with San Jose all series long except Game 1 and 5 when the exhaustion from traveling the most with no rest was on full display.

Just like in football, you do not want to allow a lower ranked team to keep hanging around. There are lots of examples of this. According to the bracket, Nashville is a weaker team than San Jose because the Preds are a Wild Card team. The Predators have shown, even with no rest,that at times they have arguably been better than the Sharks. The San Jose Sharks are playing with fire by letting the Predators stay around.

It’s time for the boys from Smashville to ignite.

San Jose Sharks

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For a team that was not good at home, they have flipped the script by winning the last four in a row at the Shark Tank.

"“I love our game at home,” Sharks center Joe Thornton told sharks.nhl.com. “I really do. I know it was a big part of the story going into the postseason, how our home record was. But I’ve loved our home game and I love the energy the crowd has been giving us. It’s been great.”"

The Sharks have played fabulous at home against Nashville in the series. They snuck out and may have gotten lucky as they were outplayed and probably should have lost Game 2 but pulled out a win.

The Sharks have been led by their captain Joe Pavelski in every win this series. When Joe scores, the Sharks win. San Jose needs a huge outing by their captain to punch their ticket to the next round. The Sharks will be confident going into Game 7 with the mindset that Nashville can’t win on the road. Confidence is key, but could be the dagger in their season.

Nashville Predators

What a time to be alive for a Nashville Predators fan. The team is one win away from their first-ever appearance in the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After another OT victory by the most unlikely of sources in Viktor Arvidsson, the Nashville Predators are in their second ever Game 7.

May 9, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Nashville Predators center Colin Wilson (33) reacts to scoring the game-tying goal during the third period in game six . Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
May 9, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Nashville Predators center Colin Wilson (33) reacts to scoring the game-tying goal during the third period in game six . Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

Head Coach Peter Laviolette will have to keep his magic following in Game 7. By juggling his lines, he has got the best out of every single one of his players. Heck, it even helped Mike Ribeiro to get an assist in Game 6. Coach Pete is 5-1 in Game 7’s. We will just have to wait and see if his magic will get him win number six.

"“It doesn’t matter to me,” Ryan Johansen  told NHL.com. “I’m sure it doesn’t matter to the guys in this room. We felt like we could have won that Game 2 in their building. We played a really good game, and it just didn’t go our way. We weren’t ourselves in Game 1 and Game 5. You’re not going to win in any arena if you’re not playing your game. If we go there and execute our game plan and play within our structure, we’ll be successful. It doesn’t matter where we’re at.”"

Anything is possible this late in the season. If the Nashville Predators play their cards right, they will be in the next round guaranteed.

Prediction 

Game 7 between San Jose and Nashville is the biggest game in franchise history to date. Nashville is on the brink of something special and something that they have never done before. Nashville is also on the brink of elimination.

The Nashville Predators will win Game 7 by a score of 4-2. If the Preds can score quickly and early then it could very well propel them into the next round. The Sharks could also win this game 4-2. Anything is possible this late in the season but Nashville looks like a team that will not be denied.

If everybody is on the same page all night then you can expect Smashville to be rocking. Win or lose, you have to be proud of this team. In January, they were not even thinking about the playoffs.  Now, we are thinking about Game 7 deciding if we will be in the Conference Finals for the first time ever.

Next: Fan Favorite Viktor Arvidsson

This our time! C’mon Smashville!

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