Predators Finish Off Homestand Tonight Against Edmonton

There’s a major logjam in the Western Conference playoff picture right now, and the Nashville Predators are right in the thick of it.

Tonight is a big game as the Nashville Predators take on the Edmonton Oilers, a team that’s four points ahead of them.

There’s seven teams within five points of each other right now, including the Predators and Oilers who square off tonight at Bridgestone Arena.

The Predators are 3-1 on their five-game homestand that ends tonight, but dropped their most recent game Saturday night to the Colorado Avalanche.

However, the Predators were the recipients of a horrible call against Colorado that kept them from tying the game late on two goals apiece. Colin Blackwell got called for goalie interference despite being clearly pushed from behind.

The grind is about to ramp up for the Predators as they’ll start making up these games in hand that they’ve been holding onto throughout the season.

They play four games in the next six nights, with two coming against the Dallas Stars.

Sizing up the Oilers

I have the Oilers pegged as one of the teams that can do a lot of damage in the playoffs. They have the elite scoring you need to take over games, led by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

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Draisaitl has already eclipsed 100 points on the season, and McDavid isn’t too far behind with 89 points. The production drops off dramatically for this club after that, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at 53 points.

The Oilers have been pretty average over the past couple of weeks, losing three and winning three in their last six games. They did beat Winnipeg in their last outing on Saturday night.

This is a series that has historically been owned by the Predators, but the Oilers have taken over recently and won both matchups this season. Tonight will wrap up the season series between the two teams.

It’s a fair to say the Oilers are the better team, but the Predators are playing some of their most consistent hockey since the early goings of the season. They lost to a very good Avalanche team on Saturday night, and now need to respond with a solid performance tonight against another good team.

The lineup blender

You just never know what you’re going to get with the Predators lineup. It happened with Peter Laviolette in charge, and has continued with John Hynes as head coach.

It’s all about evenly distributing the talent so that every line can present challenges to the opponent. I actually see that with how the Predators lineup looks going into tonight.

What’s interesting is how the top line is constructed. There’s no Filip Forsberg, no Mikael Granlund and no Matt Duchene. Instead, it’s Colin Blackwell, Ryan Johansen and Colton Sissons.

Just not very sure about that trio being on your top line.

Believe it or not, I actually think the troubled defense is showing gradual improvement lately. Especially with Ryan Ellis being back in the lineup and playing very well.

Ellis got one of the league’s top three stars of the week by tallying one goal and six assists in three games:

I really do like how this team is starting to come together as the schedule really stacks up with a lot of games down the stretch. This is the time when the Predators can make their move and charge up the standings.

This team is turning the corner. They’re starting to finally play together as a complete team and not leaning on just a couple players to carry the load.

But a loss tonight will definitely put a damper on things as the schedule doesn’t lighten up at all with a formidable Minnesota team on the road tomorrow night.

We’ve been talking about those games in hand all season as a safety net for the Predators to fall back on and make a leap in the standings.

Well there’s only one other game on the schedule tonight, so this is one of those games to win and move into a tie for the first wildcard spot with Vancouver.

The puck gets dropped at 7 P.M CDT from Bridgestone Arena. It’ll be televised on Fox Sports Tennessee and streamed through the ESPN+ app.