Predators Have 'Something to Prove' vs. Canucks in First Round of Stanley Cup Playoffs

The stage is officially set: The Nashville Predators will face the Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

While the NHL has yet to release a complete schedule, the Canucks are the higher seed and will have home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series. Games 1 and 2 will be played in Vancouver, likely beginning either April 21 or 22.

At first glance, the matchup seems less than favorable for Nashville. The Canucks (50-22-9, 109 points) swept the Predators (47-30-5, 99 points) in the regular season, winning all three meetings. Vancouver outscored Nashville 13-6 in those three matchups, two of which were in Nashville.

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However, it's been four months since the teams last faced one another, and a lot has changed since then – especially in Nashville.

"We're a much different team [now]," Predators forward Ryan O'Reilly said. "When we [last] played them, our game was nowhere where it is now."

One glance at the stats suggests that O'Reilly is correct in his assessment. The Predators and Canucks last faced one another on 19, a 5-2 Vancouver victory that completed the season sweep. Since Dec. 20, however, the Predators have 29 wins while the Canucks have 28. During the same span, Nashville has averaged more goals per game (3.32) and more shots per game (33.6) than Vancouver (3.17 and 28.6, respectively). The Predators have also been the better team on the man advantage since Dec. 20, going 22.1% on the power play while Vancouver has gone 20.6%.

"We definitely are [a different team now]," Predators captain Roman Josi concurred. "We played [the Canucks] early, and obviously they beat us pretty good. And I think we obviously took a step since then and played a lot better and more consistent."

The difference in the numbers becomes even more stark after the All-Star break, the unofficial midway point of the season. Since Feb. 1, the Predators have gone 21-7-3, while the Canucks have gone 17-11-4). The Predators have amassed 45 points in that span – tied for the fourth-most in the NHL – while the Canucks have totaled 38 (tied for 14th).

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The Predators have scored 3.71 goals per game since the All-Star break, good for second in the NHL. The Canucks, meanwhile, rank 24th in the league with 2.84 goals per game during that span. Nashville also has the second-best power play in the league since Feb. 1 (28.9%), while Vancouver has the eighth-worst (18.7%).

"I don't think they've seen our best early in those games," Josi said."We're definitely playing more consistent. We played some good hockey early, too, but we're definitely more consistent now."

The Predators' roster also looks different now than it did in December. Juuso Pärssinen and Philip Tomasino , who played in Nashville's early losses to the Canucks, have since been reassigned to the American Hockey League's Milwaukee Admirals. Meanwhile, two-way forward Mark Jankowski and smooth-skating defenseman Spencer Stastney have been recalled to Nashville.

At the trade deadline, the Predators also added Jason Zucker and Anthony Beauvillier – the latter of whom played 22 games for the Canucks earlier this season –bringing crucial playoff experience and and veteran leadership to Nashville's roster.

Vancouver may have owned the regular-season series, but Nashville will be looking to have the last laugh. The Predators have enough depth, talent and momentum to turn this into a long series.

"We've got something to prove," O'Reilly said. "There's no easy playoff game or playoff series. But they took it to us this year and they played us well, and it's a chance for us to go back at them and respond."