Saturday can be an exciting and special day for the Nashville Predators as they have the opportunity to clinch a playoff berth in 2024. This is a team that has had some impressive seasons lately, but struggled in 2022-23 and didn't make the cut, only to bounce back in a major way after the 5-10-0 start to this season and much lower expectations.
Clinching a spot in the playoffs today (April 6) will rely on three things to go right for the Predators, and only one of them is within their control.
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The Predators first have to handle business and defeat the New York Islanders in any fashion, giving them 94 points in 77 games. While 94 isn't generally enough to make the playoffs, there is a bit of a gap between the teams still chasing a spot and the wildcard teams this season in the West. Funny enough, the Eastern Conference is a tighter race, but there are two teams in playoff position with just 83 points.
After the Predators win, what will also have to happen is help from two teams to knock off the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild, the only two non-playoff teams still in contention in the Western Conference.
In order to clinch, the San Jose Sharks have to win in regulation against the Blues to hold them at 84 points after 77 games. The Blues would be 10 points back with five games remaining, but the Predators have the tiebreaker.
Not only does the worst team in the league have to knock off the desperate Blues who the Sharks are actually 2-0-0 against, the Winnipeg Jets need to defeat the Wild in any fashion, holding Minnesota to one or zero points. This would leave the Wild at 81 or 82 points with six games remaining, but once again, the Predators have the tiebreaker if the teams finish tied in points.
The Predators control their own destiny, and even if they don't clinch tonight, everything that could go wrong has to in order for them to not qualify for the playoffs at this point in the season.
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