Knights by the Numbers:
Points Leader: John Carlson (81)
Goals Leader: Jack Eichel (29)
Goalie: Carter Hutton (24 W, 0.921 PCT, 2.07 GAA)

Predators by the Numbers:
Points Leader: Evander Kane (53)
Goals Leader: Evander Kane (24)
Goalie: Kari Lehtonen (44 W, 0.926 PCT, 2.07 GAA)

Regular Season Head to Head: Nashville (2-1-0-0)


Playoffs By the Numbers:

Las Vegas:
Points Leader: Jack Eichel (5)
Goals Leader: Jack Eichel (2)
Goalie: Devon Dubnyk (3-0, 0.938 PCT, 1.84 GAA)

Nashville:
Points Leader: Evan Rodrigues (5)
Goals Leader: Evander Kane (3)
Goalie: Kari Lehtonen (4-2, 0.955 PCT, 1.32 GAA)


Analysis:
It was a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals as the Nashville Predators squared off against the Calgary Flames in the first round of the playoffs; only this time it was the Preds who emerged victorious outlasting Calgary in 7 games.

This marked the third straight season in a row that Nashville took out their higher seed opponent in the first round to advance in the playoffs. Only this time, it was the Western Conference champion Flames and NOT the Dallas Stars. GM Junya Kato must’ve been counting his lucky, well, stars that he managed to avoid that match up this time around.

On the other end of the rink, the Vegas Golden Knights roared back from a 2-nil deficit to win four straight to take their series over the dynasty that is the LA Kings. To be fair, Vegas actually dominated the series from start to finish having outplayed the Kings even in their two losses. It was only through the heroics of Kings netminder Antti Raanta that LA wasn’t swept.

For Vegas GM Joe Bast, this victory was even sweeter considering that he just missed the playoffs the previous two seasons finishing in 9^th spot in both years when he was the GM of the Washington Capitals. Mind you, he also had to move to the weakest division in the league in order to do so.

Prediction:
On paper, Vegas is the superior team. They have higher-end offense, they have more high-end defensive forwards, the better goaltender and the cherry on top, they also have Norris Trophy finalist John Carlson patrolling their blueline; who finished second in scoring for defensemen in the regular season with 81 pots and is arguably the best all around defenceman in the league.

But you can throw all of that out the window when it comes to Nashville. They have been considered the underdog team in virtually every playoff that they’ve been in in recent memory. And yet, time after time, they’ve owned their Cinderella tag, winning the cup in 2015 and making it to the Western Conference Finals two years running so far.

And they’ve done it this year without Roberto Luongo.

Everything says that Vegas should win this one in a romp, but you just can’t ever count out Shedden’s Predators; Nashville in 7.

Stars by the Numbers:
Points Leader: Sean Couturier (77)
Goals Leader: Sean Couturier (34)
Goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (37 W, 0.919 PCT, 2.20 GAA)

Blackhawks by the Numbers:
Points Leader: Mark Stone (79)
Goals Leader: Eric Staal (31)
Goalie: Henrik Lundqvist (28 W, 0.915 PCT, 2.45 GAA)

Regular Season Head to Head: Chicago (2-0-0-2)


Playoffs By the Numbers:

Dallas:
Points Leader: Sean Couturier (6)
Goals Leader: Sean Couturier (2)
Goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (4-3, 0.934 PCT, 1.65 GAA)

Chicago:
Points Leader: Eric Staal (6)
Goals Leader: Eric Staal (3)
Goalie: Henrik Lundqvist (4-1, 0.913 PCT, 2.16 GAA)


Analysis:
For the first time in three seasons, the Dallas Stars have advanced to the second round of the playoffs. It was also the first time that they didn’t play the Nashville Predators in the first round… and it took game 7 to avoid narrowly getting upset by the Winnipeg Jets in what should have been a gimmie series.

That said, Dallas was once again an offensive juggernaut in the regular season finishing as the top offensive team in the West with 280 goals for while still finishing 7^th in goals against in the league overall. The Stars have also seemed to have altered their ‘defense first’ game plan of recent years to opt for a more balanced approach.

The Chicago Blackhawks on the other hand have advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the third season running; and like Dallas in round one, are counting their blessings that they are not facing the Nashville Predators yet again in the Western semis as the Preds have knocked them out in each of the previous two playoffs series.

The other difference this year for Chicago is that they are not the favored team in the West. After an inconsistent and somewhat disappointing regular season, the Blackhawks surprised the heavily favored Colorado Avalanche in the first round to advance; but you would still have to think that despite all of their offensive talent, the Hawks are once again the under dogs in this series against the Stars.

Prediction:
This should be a very evenly matched series. Pound for pound both teams stack up very evenly offensively with Dallas boasting three 30 goal scorers and four players with over 60 pts in the regular season while Chicago can counter with four players themselves with 29 plus goals and also four players with 60 plus points in the season.

On the blueline, both teams sport solid cores but nether team has what you would consider a ‘game breaker’ ala a Brent Burns or a John Carlson that could sway a game one way or another. That said, Chicago defenseman Jeff Petry has had himself a very quietly productive offseason thus far with 6 assists in 6 games; good enough to tie him for 2^nd place in defence scoring in the playoff so far.

In between the pipes however, there is no contest. MAF was a steady presence in net for Dallas since being acquired mid season and finished the regular season with a 26-11-3 record with the Stars. He’s stepped up his play in the playoffs posting a very solid 0.934 sv%, 1.65 GAA in the 7 games that Dallas has played in.

For the Hawks, the aging ‘King’ is still getting the job done…but barely. He managed to survive the Avalanche, but only with a very mediocre 0.913 sv %, 2.16 GAA.

Does Hank have enough in the tank to do it again? We’d like to think so… but no. Dallas in 6.