Predators hunting for Ducks, top NHL spot tonight

The Predators are the NHL’s hottest team, and they face an opponent tonight that brings the best emotions out of them in every game they face off.

2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Everyone expected the eighth-seeded Nashville Predators to take a pounding to the one-seeded Chicago Blackhawks in the first round. Perhaps even the Blackhawks overlooked them because the Predators completed their first sweep in franchise history.

They were instantly labeled as the hottest hockey team in the playoffs after handily beating the St. Louis Blues. It eventually set up for a spectacular series vs the Anaheim Ducks in their first Western Conference Finals appearance. Emotions were running high, and heated rivalries begin to build between the players as each game went on. The Predators came out of that war with a 4-2 series win and a Western Conference crown.

Now, it’s 2018 and the Nashville Predators are the hottest team in the NHL once again. They’re riding a franchise-best nine-game winning streak and seem pretty unbeatable. They will put their winning streak on the line versus, you guessed it, the Anaheim Ducks.

The Mighty Ducks

The Ducks are no slouches. They come into this game with a 7-1-1 record in their last nine games. They’ve won their last three contests. That includes a 4-0 shutout win over Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.

The Ducks are second in the Pacific Division. They trail the Golden Knights by nine points. When on the road, the Ducks have a 15-12-7 record. They’ve dropped both their games to the Predators so far this season, so by default, the Predators have won the season series. However, the Ducks will be looking to get at least one win versus them tonight.

The Red Hot Predators

As already mentioned, the Predators have won their last nine games. It hasn’t been easy, though. In that winning streak, two were overtime wins, and four wins were by one goal. A few of them were comeback-from-behind wins. Take a look at this stat:

That stat is still relevant, even though the tweet existed prior to their game versus the Stars. They didn’t trail in the third period versus the Stars, so just change “8” games to a “9.”

Another remarkable stat, the Predators have a 2.47 Penalty Kill, which is well above the league average of 2.91. That’s significant because the Ducks power play could hurt with shooters like Rickard Rakell and Ryan Getzlaf. Pekka Rinne has posted two shutouts in this current win streak – both over Central Division rivals: St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars.

Bridgestone Arena has been rocking all season long, propelling the Predators to a 23-7-3 home record. It will be really difficult for Anaheim to defeat the Predators in Nashville. The blazing hot Predators are riding high atop their division and are full of confidence.

Importance of Tonight

The Predators are in this comfortable position where a loss wouldn’t hurt as much, but a win could be really huge. That’s a fun situation if you’re a head coach. It gives you the opportunity to rest some of your top players and let their bodies gear up for the postseason.

That’s what head coach Peter Laviolette is doing. Per Adam Vingan on Twitter, the Predators are resting Roman Josi and Kevin Fiala. Josi, listed with an upper-body injury, has been resting for quite a while now.

For any other team, that would be bad news. But for Nashville, their tremendous depth makes it less scary. The worst that could happen if the Predators lose tonight is they would fall within four points of the Winnipeg Jets of the division and the Golden Knights of the conference. That’s only if the Jets and Knights win their matches tonight.

However, with a win, Nashville could possibly retain their six-point conference and division lead, or extend it to seven or eight points. Also, with a win and a Tampa Bay Lightning loss tonight, the Predators would take the number one spot in the NHL.

You can watch the Predators take on the Ducks tonight at 7 p.m. central time on Fox Sports Tennessee or on your Fox Sports GO App. You can also listen to the game on ESPN 102.5 The Game.