It was a little more than a month ago that the Predators effectively threw in the towel on this season, choosing to deal away four lineup regulars — Nick Blankenburg, Michael Bunting, Michael McCarron and Cole Smith — in the days leading up to the March 6 NHL trade deadline.
The only criticism at the time: Why didn’t the Preds trade away even more veterans, considering how badly the team had underachieved to that point?
But a funny thing has happened on the way to playing out the remainder of the schedule.
Instead of accepting their lot in life, the Preds have rebounded since the trade deadline, posting a 9-5-2 record that includes a 3-0-1 mark so far on the team’s most important road trip of the season.
Hockey season heads to blistering finish as veteran core leads team on a West Coast road trip
The most recent positive development occurred Tuesday night in Anaheim, when the Predators (37-31-10) — thanks to a spectacular 43-save shutout by goalie Justus Annunen — downed the Ducks 5-0 to climb back into the Western Conference’s second wild-card position.
“I was happy for the boys,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette told reporters. “They weren’t going to let this one go for [Annunen]. He’s been put in real tough situations. We haven’t, at times, played our best in front of him, and [Tuesday], I think we all wanted to give him a shutout.”
Just how much difference did Nashville’s win make in the team’s chase for a playoff berth?
That depends on which analytics site you look at:
The Predators’ chances of qualifying for the postseason improved from 26 percent before the game to 43.2 percent afterward, per MoneyPuck.The Preds’ odds jumped from 23.7 percent to 38.3 percent, per Pro Hockey Reference.Nashville’s chances improved from 22 percent to 33 percent, per Playoff Status.The Predators’ odds increased from 15 percent to 28 percent, per The Athletic.
The main reason the Predators’ chances of reaching the playoffs remain less than 50 percent is that Nashville (84 points) has just four games left to play — one fewer than the Los Angeles Kings (83 points) and two fewer than the San Jose Sharks (81 points).
Already, the Preds’ April 13 home game against San Jose is looming as the next edition of biggest game of the season.
Nashville will likely need to put forth a better overall outing Thursday at Utah than the team did Tuesday against the Ducks.
The Preds were outshot 12-5 in the opening period by Anaheim, maintaining a 0-0 deadlock only because Annunen was so good. By the end of the contest, Annunen would record Nashville’s first shutout in the past 121 games, dating back to Jan. 3, 2025.
“It’s always easier when you get shots early and get a lot of shots,” said Annunen, who produced his third career shutout.
Veterans Filip Forsberg (four goals, two assists) and Ryan O’Reilly (one goal, five assists) have led the Preds through the first four contests of the current five-game western swing, aided by Erik Haula (two goals, three assists) and Steven Stamkos (three goals).
But in an important development, the Preds’ younger players have also chipped in, as Zach L’Heureux, Joakim Kemell, Matthew Wood and Fedor Svechkov have combined for three goals and four assists during the road trip.
What will happen if and when the Preds qualify for the playoffs?
They will — unfortunately — likely be massacred, as Nashville would presumably go head to head with top-seeded Colorado (51-16-10). The team leads the NHL with 112 points.
But we’ll save that story for later.
In the meantime, the Preds will seek to continue their unlikely postseason push, one that hardly seemed in the works just a month ago.
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.