The Nashville Predators and the Anaheim Ducks will meet in the Western Conference Final starting tonight for a chance to play in the Stanley Cup Final. Both of these teams played against each other in last years playoffs as the Predators ended up winning the series in seven games.
The Ducks beat the Oilers in seven games to get back to the Western Conference Final for the second time in three years, while this is the first time in franchise history that the Predators are in the Western Conference Final. Here’s a preview of some big storylines on what’s sure to be a great Western Conference Final.
Hot goaltending
This series may not have two goaltenders who are among the top five in the league, but they do have very good starting netminders who’ve played well in the postseason.
In Nashville, Pekka Rinne is one of the front-runners for the Conn Smythe as he’s had an amazing playoffs so far. He’s 8-2 with a .951 save percentage and a 1.37 goals-against average. Those aren’t just career guys for him in the playoffs but that leads all goaltenders in the playoffs. During the regular season, he had only a .918 save percentage and a 2.42 goals-against average, so that goes to show that when a team gets a hot goaltender in the playoffs, they’re really hard to stop. Rinne only allowed three goals in the sweep against the Blackhawks in the first round and he came up with his best performance against the Blues in the series clinching game when he only allowed one goal. If he can continue his hot streak, it’s going to be very difficult for Anaheim to win this series.
In Anaheim, John Gibson’s save percentage is a lot lower than Rinne’s as it’s .908 but a lot of that had to do with game six against the Oilers when he got pulled very quickly into the game. He allowed three goals on six shots but then he rebounded big time in game seven after he allowed an early goal to Edmonton. He was lights out the rest of the way, stopping 23 of 24 pucks to help the Ducks advance. He also rebounded in game three in Edmonton after he gave up three early goals and then gave up none the rest of the way as the Ducks were able to come back.
Gibson is going to have to have the series of his life if the Ducks are to come out on top even though it’s going to be very hard to match Rinne’s play. If he can play like he did in game 7 against Edmonton against the Predators, they’ll have a great shot.
The battle of defenses
Of the four teams left, both of these teams have the top two blue lines and we’re going to get to see it first hand. The Predators have the deepest blue line of the two teams and they face a tough task with shutting down Ryan Getzlaf who’s been on fire in the playoffs. Getzlaf has scored eight goals and has 15 points in 11 playoff games for the Ducks so far. It’s likely that Nashville will put out Subban or Josi a lot against Getzlaf as both are very good defensively and can potentially neutralize him.
Another defenseman to keep an eye on this series is Ryan Ellis who’s been outstanding for Nashville. He has four goals and 9 points through two rounds and could be a big x-factor this series for Nashville if he keeps up his impressive play. Mattias Ekholm is another one of those underrated but very good defenseman that Nashville has. While he only has three assists during these playoffs, he’s great in his own zone. This blue line as a whole definitely has what it takes to try and shut down players such as Getzlaf and Perry.
In Anaheim, they’re led by Hampus Lindholm who’s one of the most underrated defenseman in the league. He will be tasked with dealing with the top line of the Predators which consists of Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen, and Viktor Arvidsson. Ardvisson has been particularly good in these playoffs with two goals and 5 points and Johansen has as well with nine points in 10 games. Lindholm will be paired up with Josh Manson going into the conference final and they could also get a dose of the Mike Fisher line.
Cam Fowler is back after being injured for a couple of weeks and he’s going to be getting a look at Nashville’s top six as well. He’ll be paired with Brandon Montour to start the series and he’s going to have to be able to neutralize Nashville’s top six. The Ducks bottom pair of Sami Vatanen and Shea Theodore will likely get a lot of minutes against Nashville’s bottom two lines which consist of players such as James Neal and Colin Wilson.
Prediction
This is going to be a really close series that goes down to the wire and will be decided in game seven. Ultimately, Pekka Rinne is going to prove to be too tough for the Ducks and the Predators will advance to their first ever Stanley Cup Final.