Nashville Predators at Vancouver Canucks 1st Round Preview: Who has the Edge?

The Nashville Predators will meet the Vancouver Canucks in the 1st Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the second all-time postseason meeting between the two.

Dec 19, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators left wing Filip Forsberg (9) skates the
Dec 19, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators left wing Filip Forsberg (9) skates the | Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
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Oct 24, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators right wing Luke Evangelista (77) skates
Oct 24, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators right wing Luke Evangelista (77) skates | Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Series Prediction

On paper this has the makings of needing the seven games to figure out the winner. I can see the two teams swapping road and home wins, and also can see there being several momentum shifts throughout the series.

Two head coaches in the running for the Jack Adams Awards, two elite level goaltenders, and superb top end talent for both sides. It could very well end up coming down to who has the better depth to grind the other one down.

Furthermore, both teams play a heavy hitting style of hockey. The Predators, with the new single season hit leader Jeremy Lauzon, amassed 2,149 hits as a team to finish 5th in the NHL. The Canucks dished out 2,176, good forth 4th. So there you have it. It's probably going to get testy. Which team walks that fine line of keeping the intensity, but not letting their emotions lead to a bad penalty that can swing a game the other way.

With me throwing all of this into a blender and trying to make a prediction on who wins this series, I keep going back and forth. Yes, I think the Predators can pull off the upset and wouldn't even really consider it that large of an upset if it happens.

However, I'm sticking with my brain and not my heart and am going Canucks in 7. I don't trust the Predators enough to overcome the Canucks in the special teams battle. Everything else is a deadlock on paper, but that area scares me enormously.

I can even see the Predators stealing Game 1 in Vancouver. This should be a very entertaining series, but the Canucks just have a little too much offensive firepower in the end that will be just enough to advance past the ahead-of-schedule Predators.

Schedule