The Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators will meet in round one of the Western Conference playoffs. Detroit finished with the NHL’s best regular season record, thus giving them the number one seed in the West. The Predators on the other hand weren’t even supposed to even make the playoffs.

DETROIT RED WINGS

Regular Season Record: 54-21-7, 115 points
Head-to-Head Record: 5-3
Last Stanley Cup Win: 2002
Last Stanley Cup Final Appearance: 2002
Last Postseason Appearance: 2007

What to watch for: Detroit has been the NHL’s best team all season, and they will look to continue their dominance in the postseason. The team finished up its third straight 50-plus win season while being the class of the field. Detroit brings a high powered offense that led the league in scoring with 257 goals. They also bring a shutdown defense that allowed the fewest goals in the league with 184.

Players to watch: Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg will be key for the Red Wings in this series. Datsyuk led the Wings in points with 31 goals and 66 assists in 82 games. Zetterberg wasn’t far behind finishing with 43 goals and 49 assists in 75 games. The Red Wings have the best goaltending tandem in the league with Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood. Both Osgood and Hasek finished the season with 27 wins. Hasek will be the starter for the Wings, but if he struggles, don’t be surprised to see Osgood play.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Regular Season Record: 41-32-9, 91 points
Head-to-Head Record: 3-3-2
Last Stanley Cup Win: None
Last Stanley Cup Final Appearance: None
Last Postseason Appearance: 2007

What to watch for: Nashville might be considered the Cinderella team out of the Western Conference. They lost Paul Kariya, Peter Forsberg, Kimmo Timonen, and Scott Hartnell before the season even started because of ownership issues. J.P. Dumont, Jason Arnott, and Alexander Radulov stepped in nicely to help the Predators back to the playoffs, though. Nashville has been a better team at home than on the road; they were only at .500 away from home.

Players to watch: J.P. Dumont was a surprise leader of the Predators during the regular season, and they will look to him in the playoffs for more scoring power. Dumont finished the season with 29 goals and 43 assists in 80 games; he set career highs in goals and points. Goaltending is the Predators weakest position. Dan Ellis has been the best goalie, but has no playoff experience. He had a better record, goals-against-average, and save percentage than Chris Mason, but Mason has some playoff experience appearing in five games last year. Whichever goalie starts, he will be on a short leash.

Schedule

Game 1 – Thursday, April 10, 7 pm ET – Nashville at Detroit
Game 2 – Saturday, April 12, 2 pm ET – Nashville at Detroit
Game 3 – Monday, April 14, TBD – Detroit at Nashville
Game 4 – Wednesday, April 16, TBD – Detroit at Nashville
*Game 5 – Friday, April 18, 7:30 pm ET – Nashville at Detroit
*Game 6 – Sunday, April 20, 3 pm ET – Detroit at Nashville
*Game 7 – Tuesday, April 22, TBD – Nashville at Detroit
* - if necessary

Prediction: Detroit in four