Nashville Predators: Key Matchups For Epic 2nd-Round Clash vs. Winnipeg

Can the power play wake up from its slumber?

It’s been an up and down year on the power play. At times it looks unstoppable, and other times looks laughable. Here’s to hoping they’re not entering another power play slump at this time of year. The Predators didn’t take advantage of opportunities in the Avalanche series, cashing in just three power-play goal in 19 tries. That’s not going to get the job done against a much better Winnipeg team who ranks in the top-10 on the penalty kill.

Winnipeg is a fairly disciplined team as they rank in the middle of the league in penalty minutes. They don’t take foolish penalties too often, meaning the Predators have to take advantage of the few opportunities they may end up getting. Power play goals are important neutralizers to when you’re facing a goaltender on a hot streak like Hellebuyck is on.

Forsberg might be the ultimate remedy to the power play struggles. He’s taking the NHL by storm right now after the Colorado series. He’s playing with a ton of confidence and is doing it in all phases of his game. Now we need him to explode on the power play and add onto the 13 power play goals he had in the regular season.

Another important power play contributor who needs to find his touch more in this area is Ryan Ellis. We all know about that deadly one-timer that he can snap home. Let’s see more of that in this series. It’s critical that the Predators improve the power play.