Series Preview: Jets vs Predators

Winnipeg won two of the five meetings with Nashville this season, including a 5-4 shootout win on Mar. 25 that clinched the Jets' spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"It's exciting. I think everyone on the outside was hoping for this series," said Jets defenceman Tyler Myers. "It's going to be a good one. They're a good team over there. We've had a lot of success this year focusing on the level we need to get to, and we'll continue to do that.
"The games we've played against each other have been pretty exciting. We expect a pretty fast series."
That pace will begin very early in Game One, and given the atmospheres at Bell MTS Place and Bridgestone Arena, Maurice can't wait to get started.
"You want to be in games that are fun too," said Maurice. "There is just more energy, there is something going every face-off. Both teams have scored face-off goals. You have to be on right from the time the puck drops against Nashville, right straight through."

OFFENCE
Speaking of face-offs, Nashville's 59.1 per cent success rate in the dot leads all postseason teams, while the Jets are sixth at 51.2 per cent.
"They've got a lot of guys that are running at 55 and above. You look at Johansen and what he's been able to do in the circle, (Colton) Sissons, (Mike) Fisher, those guys, and they have Kyle Turris and Nick Bonino," said Jets centre Adam Lowry.
"They have a lot of depth down the middle, but that's the strength of our team too. We have a lot of guys that can come in and take face-offs, and a lot of guys that can play in the middle. We're comfortable rolling all four of our lines, and I think they are too."
All four of the Jets lines have been involved offensively, with 17 skaters recording at least one point in the series against the Wild.
Nashville has also spread the offence around, with 15 players registering at least one point.
"It's a high-event game. There's lots of action all the time," said Maurice. "The game doesn't really slow down when we play there aren't blocks of time where teams are just dumping pucks and playing the same game. It's very intense, and very exciting for the full 60 (minutes)."
Both teams finished the regular season in the top 10 in goals scored. Winnipeg's 273 were the second most in the NHL, while Nashville finished eighth at 261.
"There's lots of action in these games. You stand behind the bench, and some nights - the easy nights to coach - you know exactly what's happening to the puck and why, and where everybody is on the ice," said Maurice. "The change of possession in these games, and the opportunities off those change of possession are as fast as you'll see.
"You think you're in a good spot, you bobble the puck, and you're in a real bad spot."

SPECIAL TEAMS
Winnipeg's power play clicked at a 23.1 per cent clip in the First Round, putting them in a tie for seventh among teams in the post season.
In fact, Winnipeg's first and last goals in the series against Minnesota came off the stick of Mark Scheifele on the power play.
But those power play units will have their hands full with a Nashville penalty kill that killed off 90.5 per cent of the shorthanded situations they faced against the Avalanche.
Andrew Copp says the Jets haven't done a deep dive into the Nashville's power play (ranked 12th in the postseason at 15.8 per cent) just yet, but the five meetings the two teams have had this season help reveal some tendencies.
"It's the opposite of our power play actually. Johansen is on his one-timer side and Filip Forsberg is on his strong side from what I can remember," said Copp. "We know P.K. Subban is a great one-timer up top. WE need to be in that lane. I feel like a lot of their goals were them being really strong in front of the net.
"They can beat you with finesse, they can beat you with the big bomb up top, and then they can out battle you in front of the net. We'll have to be on our A-game penalty kill wise.
DEFENCE
Both teams have very active blue lines that like to get involved on the offensive side of things.
Dustin Byfuglien led Jets defencemen in goals (nine) and points (45). Byfuglien, Myers, Josh Morrissey, and Jacob Trouba combined for 131 points this season.
On the Nashville side, P.K Subban and Roman Josi finished third and fifth in points on the Presidents' Trophy winning Predators squad.
Subban's 59 points were six ahead of Josi's 53.
"It's important when you get in on the forecheck you make sure their D don't beat you up the ice," said Lowry. "Their forwards are so used to having that second wave, they're looking for that option if they don't have a play to the net or a play through the seam.
"Sometimes you get caught over back checking and then you're scrambling and trying to get into shooting lanes, and they've got guys on the back end that can really shoot the puck. It's just about making sure you back check smart, take your assignment, and don't try and do someone else's job."
Myers has two goals in the postseason, which leads all Jets defencemen.

GOALTENDING
Both teams feature Vezina Trophy finalists between the pipes.
Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck is coming off back-to-back shutouts in Game Four and Game Five against the Minnesota Wild. Hellebuyck has a 1.93 GAA (6th in the postseason) and a 0.924 save percentage in his five starts.
The 24-year-old's 44 wins in the regular season were tied for the league lead with Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and also set a record for wins by an American born goaltender.

Nashville's Pekka Rinne posted a 2.60 GAA in the First Round series against the Avalanche, posting one shutout in Game Six.
He also wasn't far behind Hellebuyck in wins during the regular season, finishing with 42. His 0.927 save percentage, and 2.31 GAA from October through mid-April was also the highest among goaltenders with at least 50 games played.
But even with all those stats, there were still 41 goals scored in regulation time in the five regular season meetings.
Hellebuyck and Rinne weren't in goal for all those, but Jets head coach Paul Maurice believes those goals speak to the level of talent on both sides.
"I don't think it's necessarily on the goaltenders. It's on the shooters," said Maurice. "You have two guys with spectacular numbers, and then when they meet each other, you have a lot of people that can score on the ice. Everybody is going to have to be good. The team that wins this series is going to have more guys going."