The Predators come up a win short of their second-straight Western Conference Final, losing Game 7 by a 5-1 final score. Read & Watch
Just one series in the conference semifinal round of the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs went to a Game 7 -- but it's the series we all wanted to go seven games. To help get you prepared for what's set to transpire in Nashville on Thursday night, we convened our panel of writers for their thoughts on the game.
Who will be the X factor for Game 7 between the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets? Who will win the game?
Greg Wyshynski, senior NHL writer: My eyes are squarely on Mark Scheifele here. The Jets center is their leading playoff scorer (9-5-14 in 11 games), but there are a couple of trends that make him the X factor. When he scores, the Jets generally win: He has three goals and three assists in their three wins in the series. But in losses in Games 4 and 6 to Nashville, Scheifele didn't tally a point. He's also been gangbusters in Nashville during this series: five goals and two assists in three games. He's had at least a point in his last six games in Nashville, including the regular season.
However, my pick was Nashville before the series, and I'm sticking to it: Nash Vegas vs. Las Vegas in the Western Conference finals.
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Emily Kaplan, national NHL reporter: Pekka Rinne is my X factor. The 35-year-old had a terrific regular season (he's the Vezina Trophy front-runner) but has been inconsistent these playoffs -- especially at home. In his last five games at Bridgestone Arena, Rinne is 2-3 with a 3.93 goals-against average and .872 save percentage. Rinne is, however, coming off his best game of the series with a 34-save shutout Game 6 win in Winnipeg. Neither team has been able to win more than one game in a row in this series, so if the Predators are going to buck that trend, they'll need Rinne to come up huge. And, by the way, I have faith he'll get it done. My prediction is the Predators, and I have a hunch this one is decided in overtime.
Chris Peters, hockey prospects writer: When Filip Forsberg is playing at the top of his game, nobody can stop him. Coming off of his incredible three-point performance that included his filthy between-the-legs goal, Forsberg is tied with Alex Ovechkin for top scorer in the playoffs among teams still alive, with 15 points. Nine of those points have come in this series. He has to have another big game in him to either put some goals on the board or free up some better matchups for others on the Preds. The bigger the threat Forsberg is, the more likely it is the Preds will win.
I'm picking the Predators for the win, though I expect a tight game. I think the home-ice advantage will finally come through, as the Nashville faithful should be good and riled up for the first Game 7 in Bridgestone Arena history. Additionally, I think that the 4-0 win in Winnipeg in Game 6 helped stabilize the reeling Preds after that crushing 6-2 loss in Game 5. They looked more like themselves and now have the chance to dictate some matchups more.
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Ben Arledge, Insider NHL editor: How about Roman Josi? The offensive catalyst has been quiet from the point throughout the playoffs so far, posting just five assists. He had six goals in last year's playoff run, and had 53 points this season. He had two points in Game 6, so he could feed off that in the final game of the series. It's time for the blueliner to get involved. From the other bench, I'd point to Patrik Laine to play X factor. He had 44 goals during the season but has just three through 11 games during playoff action. I wouldn't be surprised to see the young Finn find the score sheet multiple times Thursday night.
As for the winner, I'm sticking with Winnipeg, even on the road. I think you'll see an offensive onslaught from the Jets, and I expect a good game from Connor Hellebuyck in net.
Sachin Chandan, ESPN the Magazine researcher: The X factor for me is Winnipeg's top pair of Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey. The Trouba-Morrissey pair has been called on to play heavy minutes and has controlled play with a 58.4 Corsi for percentage at even strength. To put this in perspective, that's the best mark for a defensive pair since the Cup-winning Duncan Keith-Brent Seabrook duo in 2015 (minimum 100 minutes of time on ice). The Jets don't back off the throttle either, as an unbelievable 65.8 percent of scoring chances are for the Jets when Trouba-Morrissey is defending a lead. Trouba-Morrissey has played crucial parts in each of Winnipeg's wins this series, and if the pair can do it again, I'm picking the Jets to continue this playoff run.
Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne (35) warms up before Game 5 of the second round NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bridgestone Arena, Saturday, May 5, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo: George Walker IV / Tennessean.com)
Quick, name the best stretch of 20 minutes or more of hockey the Nashville Predators have played in the Western Conference semifinal that ends in a Game 7 tonight.
I’m guessing most would not instantly come up with the same choice as Peter Laviolette.
“You go back to Game 5,” he said today of the Winnipeg Jets’ 6-2 romp in their last visit to Bridgestone Arena, “we played maybe our best period of the playoffs so far in period No. 1.”
And then …
“Period No. 2, we lost our way for about 12 minutes,” he said of the Jets’ four-goal outburst to blow that game open, aided by the Predators’ temporary loss of their minds, “and I think trying to stay on point for the entire 60 minutes with what we need to do and how we need to execute, I thought in Game 4 we were able to do that and Game 6 we were able to do that. There’s been different parts of this series where we’ve been able to do it. But there’s a couple moments we’d like to have back and do them over, which you can’t do.”
So yes, Nashville’s last two performances in Winnipeg can be considered blueprints for what must happen to win the first home Game 7 in franchise history and advance to play the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference finals. The Predators won 2-1 in Game 4 and 4-0 in Game 6 to create this opportunity.
CLOSE Coach Peter Laviolette talks about Filip Forsberg, the Predators' edge in experience over the Jets and what it will take to win Game 7. Mike Organ, USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee
But listen to Laviolette. The first 25 minutes of Game 5 is exactly how the Predators want to play. Listen to Scott Hartnell, who is 2-0 when he plays in this series – the physicality he brought to Games 4 and 6 make him a must-have in Game 7 – and who knows a thing or two about what it takes in pressure moments.
“Safe is death in this room,” Hartnell said, citing a motto of his former coach in Columbus, John Tortorella, and perfectly summing up how the Predators have to look at this game.
That’s one of the interesting things about hockey. The Predators need great defense in this game, of course, just as they had in Games 4 and 6. But they also need to play as little defense as possible. A “defensive game” is not the answer. Approach this with any fear of attacking the Jets and you will be in your end too much. They’re so good, they will make you pay.
You also can’t play the “give the puck away in the defensive zone” game. Or the “scramble around, get out of position and leave a guy alone in front of the net” game. The Predators must be great when they’re in the defensive zone. They likely will look to gum up the neutral zone at some point in Game 7, as they did in Games 4 and 6, if they are playing with a lead. But Game 5 – before it spiraled out of control – is what they want to do from the start. It is, in fact, their identity.
And if Connor Hellebuyck stands tall and keeps his team in the game anyway, the Predators can’t let that deter them. Hellebuyck has been better in Nashville and a bit leaky at home, just as Pekka Rinne has had his two best games of the series on the road. They have been the two most important players in every game, but they might be even more important tonight. It stands to reason that both teams are going to be focused and precise and vigilant about giving their goaltenders the best conditions possible.
If either side gets a soft goal, that might do it. If either goaltender commits hockey robbery and takes a sure goal off the board, that might do it.
“Goaltending is everything in almost every game,” Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. “You had lots of chances but didn't score it? The other goaltender was probably pretty good. You think you played really, really well but you had a couple of breakdowns that were in the back of your net? It's all about goaltending anyway. It always has been."
There’s one sure way the Predators can make things easier on Rinne – by playing offense instead of defense. That will require calculated risks in some situations, and it will require trust among all five skaters on the ice. You’ll have a hard time finding a team that won a Game 7 without both of those things.
Contact Joe Rexrode at jrexrode@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @joerexrode.
The Nashville Predators had it all… until they didn’t.
Coming into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Predators seemingly had laid the groundwork for a redemption campaign that would see them travel to the Stanley Cup Final again, and maybe even snag the hardware this time.
They owned the best record in the regular season, possessed the soon-to-be Vezina Trophy winner and trotted out the best defensive corps in the NHL in the opinion of many.
They had the experience. They had tasted the cruelty of losing at the last possible juncture. You have to lose before you can win, right? At least according to sports’ book of unwritten rules.
Nashville had a deep team, capable of scoring, defending and stopping goals — a team bred for success and with a roster chalk full of resumes to back it up — and better than nearly anyone.
Nearly.
Nearly, because on Thursday night the Predators’ season, with all of its expectations, the hopes and dreams and everything they’d learned from a year ago, ceased to exist.
A 5-1 loss in Game 7 of the Western Conference Second Round meant Nashville wouldn’t reach the Final. There would be no redemption. Only questions, tears and hopes vanished.
The first finger to be wagged in a particular direction starts in the crease.
Pekka Rinne‘s Vezina-caliber regular season got lost as Nashville traveled into the playoffs and never really found its way back.
“I feel very much responsible for our season ending at this point,” Rinne said on Thursday after allowing two first-period goals and getting pulled in record-time just 10:47 into the opening frame. “Tough to swallow, tough to understand. I can’t point out anything. Felt good, and no injuries and totally healthy. But total ups and downs throughout the playoffs. The biggest moment of the season, it’s a terrible feeling. You let your teammates down, and that’s what happened tonight. That’s tough to swallow.”
Rinne, 35 and scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after next season, struggled mightily at times and was on mediocre (save for Game 6) at others.
At Bridgestone Arena, where Nashville had been so good during the regular campaign, Rinne was at his worst, losing three of our in the series — pulled twice (and three times total) — and posting a horrendous .848 save percentage.
Fingers pointed squarely at Rinne alone would be crass, as P.K. Subban adequately pointed out after the game.
“Critics who want to criticize (Rinne) don’t know what they’re talking about,” Subban said as he vehemently defended his goaltender. “I don’t care if they played in the NHL or not. He’s the backbone of our hockey club. He’s one of the main reasons why we’re here. Could we all have been better tonight? Yeah. We didn’t do enough. I felt at times that they had their whole team going; we didn’t. I mean, it comes down to that. I think everybody could have played a lot better, could’ve given more. I’m sick and tired of people always talking about (Rinne).
“He’s the backbone of this team. He’s the reason we’re here. When you talk about top goaltenders in the League, it’s him, it’s (Montreal Canadiens’ Carey) Price, it’s (Tampa Bay Lightning’s Andrei) Vasilevskiy, it’s (Winnipeg Jets’ Connor) Hellebuyck. It’s these guys. You’re lucky to have one of them. We have to look at this as a team and get better as a team. Like I said, we have a lot of time to think about it, rest and recover and be ready to win a championship next year.”
If they do, their whole team will need to show up. Consistently. Like Subban said, the 18 skaters in front of Rinne didn’t hold up their end of the bargain either.
While Winnipeg’s top line showed up in the series — the trio of Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor combined for 28 points over the series’ seven games — Nashville’s best showed up in spurts, and spurts don’t win series.
“Yeah I mean, it’s a dangerous group over there, you know?” defenseman Ryan Ellis said. “They won for a reason, they’ve got a lot of dangerous players, guys that got 40 goals and 90 points or whatever. So we have to be, as a group, responsible defensively as well as offensively. I mean, Game 7. It’s that close of a (series).”
It was.
But Nashville met its match.
The team came into the playoffs with 117 points in the regular season and a Presidents’ Trophy to show for their efforts. None of that matters though, its place now is only for context when talking about how and why it all went wrong.
In a nutshell, Nashville’s vaunted defense had no answer for Winnipeg’s rocket-fuelled offense. Nashville’s immovable object moved. The team that allowed the second-fewest goals in the regular season allowed the Jets to come into their barn and drop 19 on them to tie an NHL record. When the onslaught began, there was simply no answer to the unstoppable force.
And so it ended.
Predators head coach Peter Laviolette, now 5-3 in Game 7s as a bench boss, didn’t need many words when he offered a simple truth after the game.
“We ran into a good team, and they’re moving on.”
Indeed.
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck
