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Nashville is 3-0-1 on current road trip, holds second wild-card spot<\/p>\n The Predators (38-32-10, 86 points) maintained the pressure on Los Angeles (34-26-19, 87 points) and Anaheim (42-32-6, 90 points) over the weekend, edging Minnesota 2-1 on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.<\/p>\n Still, Nashville must defeat San Jose on Monday or face the possibility that a regulation defeat by the Preds and a win by Los Angeles over Seattle would squelch the Predators\u2019 hopes<\/a> of returning to the playoffs.<\/p>\n On the other hand, wins by the Preds in their final two regular-season games \u2014 including Thursday\u2019s finale against visiting Anaheim \u2014 would give Nashville a 78 percent chance of reaching the postseason, per PlayoffStatus.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Indeed, an optimistic Predators fan would point out that if Nashville wins its last two games, and if Anaheim loses its final two (including the one at Bridgestone Arena), the Predators would secure a playoff berth based on an NHL tie-breaking procedure.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know what position we’re in and how important these games are,\u201d says Preds rookie forward Matthew Wood, who scored the game-winning goal against Minnesota.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo games left now, and it feels like [a] must-win. That\u2019s exciting for us, and we\u2019re excited for the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n Big games mean big decisions, and Predators coach Andrew Brunette has a significant one to make in goal for Monday\u2019s contest.<\/p>\n Juuse Saros is the team\u2019s number one netminder, having played 58 games to 27 for back-up Justus Annunen.<\/p>\n But Annunen has been the hotter goalie of late, as he has stopped 64 of 65 shots (.985 percentage) in his past two outings, a 5-0 win over Anaheim and the 2-1 win over Minnesota. In fact, Annunen is 4-2-0 in his past six appearances, stopping 179 of 188 shots (.952 save percentage) during that stretch.<\/p>\n Saros, meanwhile, is 3-2-1 over his past six games, stopping 157 of 177 shots (.887 save percentage).<\/p>\n Initial appearances at Nashville\u2019s morning skate seemed to indicate Brunette was sticking with the hot hand \u2014 Annunen \u2014 instead of going back to Saros, per reporters on hand.<\/a><\/p>\n
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