The Nashville Predators have 13 games left in the 2010-11 regular season. The Preds are just a single win away from 6th and just three points away from the home ice advantage of 4th in the Western Conference. They are, right now however, in 9th with 80 points.
Considering the Dallas Stars are in 4th with 82 points, the Blackhawks, Calgary Flames, Los Angeles Kings (Tuesday’s opponent) and Phoenix Coyotes all have 81, and the Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild are on Nashville’s heels with 79 and 77, respectively, how many points will the Predators need to finish with in order to get into the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons?
So don’t look at the schedule. Pay no attention to their opponents. Don’t consider who they should beat and who they shouldn’t. Just think about the numbers. How many points will it take to get in?
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND
* Nashville’s highest possible finish would be 106 points.
* If the Preds were to go 7-6-0 (a shade over .500), they’d finish with 94.
* If the Preds were to go 6-7-0 (a shade below .500), they’d finish with 92.
* The Predators have two games in hand on 8th place Calgary.
* The 10th place Ducks have one game in hand on the Predators (and, in turn, three on Calgary).
So CLICK HERE TO WEIGH IN! How many points will the Predators need in order to get into the Western Conference playoffs? Let the discussion begin!