ESPN: Whatwe learned about each playoff team
The Predators were the team to beat in the NHL from November until late February. There was a 51-game span in those months during which Nashville went 35-11-5. The Predators were atop the NHL with 89 points, six better than any other team, as of Feb. 25. But from there, the Predators began to slip and never were able to fully recover. They went 6-12-3 over the final few weeks and closed the regular season on a six-game losing streak. Where goaltender Pekka Rinne and the team's defense once seemed nearly invincible, the Predators just couldn't keep the puck out of their net late in the year. They allowed three or more goals in 13 of their last 19 regular-season games.
The Predators began the playoffs with home-ice advantage, but that quickly slipped from their grasp with a Game 1 loss to the Blackhawks. The Predators actually outplayed the Blackhawks at times in the series and fell on the unlucky losing side in two overtime games, but the goals against eventually did them in. The Blackhawks scored four goals in three of their victories in the six-game series.
The Predators took a step forward by getting back to the playoffs and showed promise under first-year coach Peter Laviolette. They have a lot of reasons -- including the quick rise of Filip Forsberg, the continued emergence of Roman Josi, the development of Seth Jones -- to be optimistic for the future. If the Predators can figure out how to put their stellar play together throughout an entire season, they'll be a team to watch for years to come. -- Scott Powers