Nashville Predators: Bold Predictions for the First Round against Hurricanes
Who will lead the Nashville Predators in goals in 1st round?
The obvious choice is probably Filip Forsberg, but I’m going a different direction here. Although it wouldn’t be a shock at all to see Forsberg erupt for several goals, I’m actually going with Calle Jarnkrok.
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Jarnkrok has really stepped up his level of play this season by being a full-time player in the top-six of the lineup. He tied with Mikael Granlund for the team lead in goals this season with 13, which came close to his career high of 16 goals despite the shortened season.
I’m expecting Jarnkrok to stay in the top part of the postseason lineup and get ample opportunities to score in this series. He’s been reliable whenever he does get scoring opportunities with a 14.3 shooting percentage, also just shy of a career high.
Jarnkrok only has three career playoff goals in 58 career playoff games, so this could definitely be his coming out party in terms of his postseason career. The Predators need that from him as they’ll be trying to keep up with a potent Hurricanes offensive attack.
Prediction: 4 goals for Jarnkrok
Juuse Saros’ goals against average?
It’s no secret that Saros has put the Predators on his back and carried them to this seventh-straight playoff appearance. Without him, the Predators would be right down there with Columbus and Detroit in the division standings.
Saros, fair or not, will have to stay in Vezina Trophy form for the Predators to have a chance. And he’s going to be up against an onslaught constantly as I expect the Hurricanes to get their large share of shots on goal.
My measuring stick for Saros’ GAA, or goals against average, is firmly at three goals per game. If he keeps it below three goals per game then the Predators have a realistic chance to pull off this upset in six or seven games.
In four games against the Hurricanes this season Saros compiled a respectable 2.73 GAA while surrendering just two power play goals. Need that same kind of success in the first round.
I won’t be surprised at all to see Saros steal a couple wins for the Predators in this series, but in the end I predict his GAA will come up just above three goals per game. I just don’t trust the Predators penalty kill to protect Saros in those pressure situations.
Prediction: Saros finishes with a 3.20 GAA
How many power play goals for Forsberg and Tolvanen combined?
We’re all ready to see that Forsberg and Tolvanen connection reignite in the first round. It could end up being the spark that not only provides some goal support for Saros, but also offsets Carolina’s second-ranked power play in the NHL.
First off, this will be a moot point if Head Coach John Hynes ends up making the shocking decision to not have Tolvanen in his starting lineup. He shared these thoughts on Friday, courtesy of Joe Rexrode of 102.5 The Game:
Hynes makes it clear Eeli Tolvanen "in or out" of the lineup will be one of the tough decisions for him entering the Carolina series.
— Joe Rexrode (@joerexrode) May 14, 2021
I have to hope that Hynes is just leaving all of his options on the table, but that he’ll make the easy decision to keep Tolvanen in the starting lineup.
With that said, the Predators have to narrow this glaring special teams gap in this matchup. Forsberg has to show me that he’s indeed in that second tier of elite NHL players that thrive in playoff moments.
Being opportunistic on the power play is a must, and I’m going with a bold prediction that says that Forsberg and Tolvanen will find some moderate success here. I’ll say Forsberg tallies two power play goals, and Tolvanen gets one at some point as well.
I’m taking a leap of faith here with Forsberg having just six power play goals in his 65 career postseason games. He needs to feast in this series when the Canes are in the box.
Prediction: 3 power play goals
Who advances and in how many games?
I have to pick with my brain here and not my heart. My heart says this Nashville Predators team has the will and determination to surprise a lot of people and get the upset. But my brain says there’s just too many deficiencies to overcome.
The Hurricanes check all the boxes when it comes to their all-around play. They’ve got solid goaltending with Petr Mrazek and Alex Nedeljkovic. I’m interested to see who they start in Game 1, but I’m planning on it to be Mrazek.
To add onto dependable goaltending, the Hurricanes are one of the NHL’s best in terms of both power play (No.2) and penalty kill (No.3). We won’t get into where the Predators ranks, but let’s just say they’re hanging down at the bottom and have a worse penalty kill than teams like Buffalo and Detroit.
Finally, the Hurricanes have the star power. Sebastian Aho is one of their top players and leads the team in points in the regular season with 57. Not to be outdone is Vincent Trocheck, Andrei Svechnikov, Dougie Hamilton and Jordan Staal.
The Hurricanes are just insanely deep with offensive playmakers with seven players having more than 30 points on the season. The Predators have just two; Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg.
I’m definitely not calling for a blowout or a lopsided series by any means, but I’m going with Carolina in six with the predication that the Predators actually play a very strong series and just get outmatched by the speed and offensive weapons.
Perhaps the Predators bottled up the success they had over the Canes in the Saturday night game that clinched the playoffs for them, but it’s still just one game. I can’t count the season finale with too much weight considering both teams were resting several key players.
Related Story. Key Factors to Predators Upsetting Canes in 1st Round. light
If the Predators can steal a game, preferably Game 1, then that will really change my outlook on their chances. However, I have the Predators coming home down 2-0 in the series only to have a huge response in front of their home crowd to make it a competitive series.