Nashville Predators: Three Reasons to Keep Hope Alive for Game 6

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It’s truly make-or-break time for the Nashville Predators tonight in Game 6, much like it’s already felt for over two months now.

After losing a heartbreaker in overtime in Game 5, the Nashville Predators come back home to Bridgestone Arena to try to extend this to seven games. They’ve already exceeded expectations for some who were predicting this to be a resounding sweep or over in five games.

Hopefully we’re not having flashbacks of Game 6 in 2019 when the Predators lost in overtime to the Dallas Stars to get eliminated in the first round. I just can’t handle that amount of disappointment again.

I know we’ve become accustomed to postseason failure over the past few seasons, but that’s in the past. The Predators have a huge opportunity in front of them to recreate what happened in 2017.

The Predators have managed to go toe-to-toe with a Hurricanes team that has the roster to win a Stanley Cup. You’ll have a hard time finding anyone who thinks the same about the Predators. But there’s reason to still have in confidence that they can pull this first round upset off.

Nashville Predators center Colton Sissons (10) and defenseman Roman Josi (59). Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports /

High Pressure is nothing new for Predators

We don’t have to worry about this team folding on Thursday night. They might get beat by the better team, but I don’t think it will be due to the Predators choking it away.

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Even with the Hurricanes up 3-2 in the series, I still think they’re facing just as much, if not more, pressure. The Hurricanes are supposed to win this series, and win it rather easily at that. But this has been a dogfight to say the least, and the Predators have been in every game.

I expect the Predators veterans to play their best games of the series on in Game 6. That might be a crazy belief considering they have had their disappearing acts at times, but I still have confidence they can come together for another gutsy win. But they need two of them, unfortunately.

They know what’s clearly at stake going into Game 6. They know it could very well be the last game for several of them in Nashville, including Pekka Rinne’s possible last time on the Predators bench.

On the flip side, it feels almost like the Predators are playing with house money. No one even expected them to get this far. There’s restored hope when the offseason gets here thanks to so many inexperienced players taking on full-time roles and excelling.

I’m expecting a team that’s playing loose and leaves it all out there for the home fans.

Nashville Predators center Luke Kunin (11) celebrates with teammates Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

The Bridgestone Faithful will deliver

There’s been a lot of talks about home crowds for both teams in this series. To the credit of Hurricanes fans, they’ve definitely held up their end of the bargain in their three home games inside PNC Arena.

The Predators fans brought that high energy we all know them for in Games 3 and 4, and the Predators narrowly escaped with double-overtime victories in those games. It was awesome to see that electricity inside Bridgestone Arena for the first time since 2019.

I realize sometimes we overhype how much fans actually have an impact on the game, but I do think in playoff hockey that they can make a difference. We know it’s going to be loud, and we know the Predators are going to feed off of that.

I feel good about forcing a Game 7 tonight and the fans giving the players that extra jolt of energy to push through and play their best games.

To the fans of Smashville, you haven’t lost your mojo at all over a year full of fans not being in the stands and very limited capacities towards the end of the regular season. You’re still just as passionate and crazy as ever.

Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros (74) . Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

Expect Saros to bounce back

I’ll go ahead and say it; Juuse Saros had his worst game of the series in Game 5. That’s not to say he was horrendous, but by his enormous standards, he was sub-par.

Saros now has the pressure on him to quickly get back into that mode that neutralizes the Canes power play and keeps the score somewhat low. The Predators aren’t winning this game tonight if they have to score more than three goals in my humble opinion.

That’s a lot to ask of Saros, but I know he’s capable of doing it because he’s shown it for over two months straight now. He’s fully earned my confidence as the new franchise goaltender to take over for Pekka Rinne.

Saros is the ultimate equalizer in this series. An ordinary goaltender in net for the Predators would probably mean a sweep would’ve already happened. That’s how much value I put into Saros on this team.

It does bear repeating, however, that this is also predicated on the Predators playing well in front of him in terms of not taking bad penalties and not getting caught out of position. I said earlier in this piece that I believe the key players of this team are going to put forth their best performances of this series, so I remain confident that Saros will be able to clearly locate the puck tonight.

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As for tonight, we just need Saros to force this to a Game 7 where anything can happen. Just like on April 25, 2016 when Rinne held the Anaheim Ducks to just one goal on 27 shots to push it to a Game 7, in which the Predators would eventually win that series.

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