Preds Postseason Preview: Five Things to Watch Against Avs in Round One

The Nashville Predators are underdogs heading into their Round One series against the Colorado Avalanche. That's just the way it is when the team in the West's second Wild Card spot faces off against the club that finished atop the conference.
But there's a part of this Preds squad that seems to like things that way. A majority of the prognosticators said back in September this group would have been cleaning out their lockers and going home today, too.
Instead, the Predators will have a chance at the Stanley Cup for their eighth-consecutive season - tied for the second-longest active streak in the NHL and no small feat in today's landscape.

Now, they'll face a Colorado team seemingly everyone is picking to win once more. Luckily for the Preds, playoff series aren't won on paper - and at this time of the year, almost anything can happen.
Here are five things to watch for between the Predators and Avalanche in Round One. Enjoy.

Norris Caliber:

Just about everyone in the hockey world seems to agree that the competition for the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman is a two-person race between Nashville's Roman Josi and Colorado's Cale Makar. Luckily for us, we'll get to see the two go head-to-head up to seven times over the next two weeks.
Josi's record-breaking season has been well documented - he led the Preds and all NHL defensemen in scoring with 96 points and became just the eighth blueliner in NHL history to reach that total. Josi also led all NHL defensemen in the percentage of his team's goals he scored or assisted on at 36.6 percent, a mark that stands as the third-highest total by a defenseman in NHL history and the highest since Bobby Orr in 1974-75 (39.1 percent).
But then there's the 23-year-old Makar who managed 28 goals and 86 points during a campaign that saw him prove to also be one of the best blueliners in the world.
Both Josi and Makar will be counted on to produce offensively in this series, but they'll also be facing some of the most skilled players on the planet bearing down on them shift after shift. Will Josi be able to limit Nathan MacKinnon's chances? What about Makar trying to fend off Filip Forsberg's hands time after time?

Speed and Skill:

Looking for offensive ability? The Preds and Avs have plenty of it, and this Round One series certainly has the potential to be among the highest scoring around the League to begin the postseason.
For the first time ever, the Predators saw one of their players hit the 40-goal mark when Matt Duchene did so two weeks ago against Calgary. Just a few days later, Forsberg got No. 40 as Nashville, all of a sudden, had two players who showed they could put the puck in the net with regularity. Duchene finished with 43 tallies compared to Forsberg's 42, and their totals of 86 and 84 points, respectively, gave the Preds plenty of offensive prowess on a nightly basis.
Mikael Granlund dished out 53 assists on the season, and Ryan Johansen potted 26 goals for the Preds. Combine those efforts with Josi's 1.2 points-per-game average and Nashville has an amount of skill that has rarely been seen in team history.
On the other side of the ice, the Avalanche are just as impressive. Mikko Rantanen's 36 goals and 92 points led Colorado, but MacKinnon recorded 88 points in just 65 outings, and he's third in NHL history when it comes to points-per-game in the postseason. Nazem Kadri had a career year with 87 points, Makar had 86 and Colorado Captain Gabriel Landeskog is set to return from injury after hitting the 30-goal mark for just the second time in his career.
Indeed, these two teams can score, and those numbers aren't likely to slide in Round One.

Let's Get Physical:

The Predators were by far the most physically punishing team in the League during the 2021-22 campaign. They led the NHL in hits this season with almost 2,500, and they were tops in major penalties as well (59) with Tanner Jeannot leading the way.
Now, hitting and fighting won't win a game on the scoresheet, but at this time of the year, physicality has the potential to play a larger role than at any previous point over the past seven months. The Predators certainly have the players in the lineup - Jeannot, Mark Borowiecki, Luke Kunin, Yakov Trenin and Michael McCarron, just to name a few - who have the ability to wreak havoc on the opposition when it comes to taking the body.
Will those factors ultimately make a difference against Colorado? They very well could and wearing down the opposition in this manner certainly won't hurt Nashville's cause.

Puck Stoppers:

Goaltending in the sport of hockey is never more important than in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. A hot netminder can carry a team to great heights, but the opposite can have a negative effect.
This series will be no different, and Juuse Saros - who sustained a lower-body injury last week and missed the final two games of the regular season - will miss the first two games of this series. Therefore, the Predators will have to rely on the tandem of David Rittich and Connor Ingram, at least to begin against the Avs.
Rittich only has one game of playoff experience, but after having to come in with less-than-ideal conditions against Calgary last week, the Preds gave him another start in Colorado, and he rebounded with 42 saves before beating the Avalanche in a shootout. No matter who is in net, the Predators will need sound, steady goaltending on a consistent basis in this series.
Darcy Kuemper is the man in net for the Avs, and he's had an excellent season with a career-high 37 wins. His playoff experience is also somewhat limited, but he was in net for the Coyotes when they defeated the Predators back in the 2020 Edmonton Bubble.
With the amount of skill on both sides, a goaltender stealing a game here and there could make a world of difference in a series like this.

What's Your Identity:

They've said it all season long, but it really is true - when the Predators play to their identity, they're capable of beating anyone in the League.
They'll certainly need to be at their best every night against a Colorado team that doesn't have many weaknesses, and the Preds know what that takes. Nashville got a little bit of everything in their final week of the regular season, including a comeback win in a shootout over the Avs last Thursday, and all of those experiences gained over the course of the last 82 games will likely come into play at some point.
This season has been full of unique experiences for the Predators - some great, some not so great in the moment - but all of it will help at this time of the year. Adversity during the regular season is usually a good thing for a hockey team. Things are inevitably going to go wrong at some point in the playoffs for every team, but those clubs that can find a way to embrace the challenge will likely find success.
Ultimately, Nashville's mental fortitude has drastically improved this season, and in the playoffs, short memories and the ability to respond and bounce back when things don't go as planned can be just as important as anything else.