After beating the Avalanche in Game 6, the Nashville Predators await the Jets for their next test. Until then, here’s some food for thought after round one.
It was a scrappy, hard-fought series, and one that most people didn’t see going to six games. No matter how they did it though, the Nashville Predators have moved on, after a dominant 5-0 win in Colorado in Game 6. Next up, they will take on the Winnipeg Jets, who finished off the Wild in 5 games. In the regular season, the Predators were 3-1-1 against the Jets, with some very tight, high scoring games. Nashville won three games, by scores of 5-3, 6-5, and 3-1. They dropped one game 6-4 in regulation, and another by a score of 5-4 in a shootout.
At first glance, it’s clear how Nashville will beat Winnipeg. They’re just going to have to outscore them and make every game a 4+ goal outburst. Anything less than 4 goals from the Predators, plays into the Jets hand.
Nashville averages 3.2 goals per game, nearly identical to Winnipeg’s 3.3 goals per game.
On the other hand, Nashville is giving up an average of 2.5 goals per game, barely better than Winnipeg’s 2.6 goals per game average. Clearly, Nashville and Winnipeg are very similar teams. Their goals for and against averages are both 0.1 off. Similarly, Nashville took 3 of 5 games in the regular season.
These teams are almost identical in many statistic areas, and in their styles of play, leading me to believe that this upcoming series will be a true battle, where the better team will have to scrape out four wins, with no handouts.
With that being said, here’s some food for thought, before this upcoming series, that could decide the winner of the Western Conference.