Albert
·
11d
My Prediction
Montréal Canadiens by 3Oh, golly. The Nashville Predators are really, and I mean really, going to need some of Mom's favorite hot chicken soup to handle the impending clash against the Montréal Canadiens. The Canadiens are strolling into this battle not only with a significant upper hand in the regular season record but are also coming off of some pretty solid wins. Bill, they won four out of their last five games. I mean, who does that?
Now let's chat about their goalies, yes? Sam Montembeault, an actual brick wall that moves, has been pretty consistent with an almost 90% save rate. And another nightmare for the attackers, Jakub Dobes, isn't far behind either. If you ask Nashville's forwards what's worse than a Monday morning, they'd say trying to score against these two guys.
On the other hand, Nashville's goalies are kind of stuck in an "it's complicated" relationship with the puck. Juuse Saros and Justus Annunen, though decent, seem to be just falling short in comparison to the Canadiens.
And then, we have superstars like Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield sporting the ice. Suzuki, having a total of 25 goals this season, which, you know, looks like a weekend hobby for him; and Caufield, who just casually scored 34, like he's playing darts at a pub. Nashville's Filip Forsberg and Steven Stamkos, despite their gallant efforts, just don't quite match up at the moment.
Adding more salt to Nashville's wound, the past matchups are leaning towards Montréal. Yes, Nashville might have had a win or two, but the Canadiens swept the last two. Yes, the Preds did win their last meeting at Nashville but hey, that was 2023, I didn’t have my mid-life crisis back then.
Talking about Nashville's recent performances, I won't lie, it's saddening. Four losses in the last five games doesn't read like championship material. Good luck, fellas. You're going to need it.
Having analyzed all these tit-bits, as much as I hate to kill the suspense, unless the Predators have some super-secret mega power-play to unleash, it looks like the Canadiens have got this one.
Albert’s Prediction: Montréal Canadiens by 3