The little brother no more: For years, the Central Division belonged to the Blackhawks.
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Minnesota Wild vs. St. Louis Blues: Minnesota started off like a house on fire and then put it on cruise the second half. Can the Nashville Predators have enough heart to make up for the lack of talent?
It's that time of year again, when Chicagoans bust out their Patrick Kane jerseys, forget their ambivalence toward hockey and embrace their beloved Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks reigned supreme in the Central Division. The last two times they've met the Predators in the postseason in the first round, they also went on to win the Cup. Kane has 89 alone to match up with the 74 that Artemi Panarin has this season.
That feat may have to wait another year, because they will be matching up with the top seed in the Western Conference, the Chicago Blackhawks.
Before they even get on the ice, however, Babcock has to get his team to actually believe they can win. On paper, the team did, but it did not translate to the ice. The Capitals clinched their third Presidents' Trophy last week with a 2-0 victory over the New York Rangers, marking their second straight season leading the league in points. Viktor Arvidsson and Ryan Johansen have controlled most of the offense on the team, with both players tied for the lead in points for the team with 61.
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The Blues will be the much more loose team with no expectations. Nashville's record was almost identical to last season's mark, but the Predators have made one big change: P.K. Subban replaced Shea Weber as their top defenseman this season, headlining a blue-line corps including Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis in front of goalie Pekka Rinne. But there's also the chance for fans of teams who aren't post-season bound this year to find a new rooting interest, if even for a couple months. With the season the Predators have had so far, it looks highly unlikely.
Fox adds you may want to take a bunch of Chicago Blackhawks or Washington Capitals, but be careful. Rinne's performance this season was better than his last, but his.912 save percentage in 48 playoff games still leaves something to be desired.
As a note, the Blackhawks went 4-1 against Nashville this season, with two wins each at home and on the road. Zach Parise, Jason Pomminville, and Nino Niederreiter have heated up as well, meaning Minnesota may use a scoring-by-committee approach to get the offense going. Jake Allen solidified the crease, though it still is not what was expected at the beginning of the season.
Nashville is a big team and they are gonna hit the Blackhawks. The offensive production from the defensemen slowed down, but the group can out-muscle any forward and will impose their will in the series.
The Hawks (50-23-9) finished with 109 points, the most in the Western Conference.
PREDICTION: The series will be decided by who can get their goaltending together first. Dubnyk has struggled in his 16 career playoff games, posting numbers a record of 6-10 with a 2.84 GAA and.896 SV%.
Fortunately, we didn't have to wait long at all for the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs to be awesome. Eventually, they'll run out of years to chase the Stanley Cup, and it wouldn't be all that surprising if this was one of the final kicks at the can either have.
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