Nashville Predators: Looking Back At Every 2nd Round Series in Franchise History

Predators vs. Canucks

I still remember this series like it was last week. For the first time in franchise history, the Predators had a team that could do serious damage in the playoffs. Previous appearances were really just a feel-good story of getting to the playoffs. This series changed those expectations moving forward.

The Canucks were the vastly superior team to the Nashville Predators. They were the top seed in the Western Conference and the Presidents’ Trophy winner. Sound familiar? The Sedin brothers were terrorizing opposing defenses and Roberto Luongo was at the peak of his career.

This series went to six games, and the Predators put up an impressive fight against the eventual Western Conference champs. These were the days when the Predators struggled to score more than two goals in a game. The young Pekka Rinne was beginning to launch into the spotlight, and he kept the Canucks from running away with it.

The teams split the first two games in Vancouver, which really had Nashville buzzing at the time. We were already in uncharted territory. Now the Predators just stole a game on the road and coming back to Nashville. In the end, the better team won in Vancouver. It was a sign of things to come that the Predators were building a foundation of playoff success.