The NHL regular season ended Saturday night with weekend action still determining playoff positioning in the Western Conference.
It is now set that the Predators and Central Division rival Chicago Blackhawks will face each other in the quarterfinals of the Stanley Cup playoffs beginning April 15.
The Predators and Blackhawks finished two points apart from each other in the standings (Nashville 104 Chicago 102) with the season series being split 1-1-2.
St. Louis earned the Central Division crown with 109 points after going 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. They have the No. 2 overall seed in the conference behind Anaheim.
Both the Predators and Blackhawks enter the playoffs on a bit of a cold streak, Nashville having lost three in a row and Chicago four consecutive.
A lot of Chicago’s struggles could be fixed by the return of super star Patrick Kane who has been out with a broken clavicle since Feb. 24. At the time of his injury he was leading the NHL in points. His status is still considered up in the air though.
It marks the eighth time in franchise history the Predators have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs and second time they meet the Blackhawks there – last losing to them 4-2 in the 2010 quarterfinals.
Nashville’s last playoff appearance was in 2012 when the lost to Phoenix Coyotes 4-1 in the conference semifinals.
Series Schedule
Game 1 April 15 7:30 p.m. Bridgestone Arena TV: FS-TN, NBCSN
Game 2 April 17 8:30 p.m. Bridgestone Arena TV: FS-TN, NBCSN
Game 3 April 19 2:00 p.m. United Center TV: NBC
Game 4 April 21 8:30 p.m. United Center TV: FS-TN, NBCSN
Game 5 April 23 TBD Bridgestone Arena TV: FS-TN, TBD
Game 6 April 25 TBD United Center TV:FS-TN, TBD
Game 7 April 27 TBD Bridgestone Arena TV: FS-TN, TBD