Breaking Down the Possible Scenarios for Nashville Predators Playoff Push
By Chad Minton
One thing that has been so incredible about this 17-game point streak for the Nashville Predators is the team has really never taken their foot off the gas. Throughout the streak, the team has remained hungry and adopted the term "relentless".
According to PlayoffStatus.com, the Predators need to win six of their remaining 11 games to guarantee a playoff berth. If they win 10 of their final 11, then they can control their own destiny to get the Western Conference's top wildcard spot.
On top of the wildcard scenarios, the Predators remain in the picture to sneak into the Central Division's top-three, which will allow them to avoid facing a division winner in the first round. Regardless, thanks to the current NHL playoff format which gets plenty of scrutiny, the Predators will end up playing one of the NHL's best teams either as a wildcard team or if they rally to move into the top-three. It really doesn't matter all that much.
And of course, we still have to leave it on the table that the Predaors could miss out altogether. That would be an all-time epic collapse for this franchise if they somehow went on a lengthy losing streak and allowed either the St. Louis Blues (80 PTS) or Minnesota Wild (77 PTS) to catch up.
Let's look at every possible scenario for the Predators' remaining playoff hunt with 11 games left in the regular season, with a critical matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights up next on Tuesday.