The Nashville Predators have been one of the surprise packages in the NHL this season and there are very few, if any, teams that have been more impressive over the last month.
Nashville is 10-0-2 in its last 12 games, and nine of those 10 victories came by multiple goals. Furthermore, there’s nothing to suggest Nashville’s unexpected ascendancy is a fluke.
What the Preds lack in star power, they make up for in cohesion, depth and commitment to a possession-based style of hockey that has made them more than just a gutsy group that is overachieving.
Nashville ranks inside the top-10 in expected goals rate and high-danger scoring chance differential, which tells you that Andrew Brunette’s team is tilting the ice in the right direction more often than not.
Nashville is led by Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi, but it gets production from all over the lineup.
Four different players have registered 50-plus points and seven have at least 13 goals.Â
If you need further proof Nashville’s performance is legitimate, you only need to look at the betting market.
The Preds are just +135 underdogs on the road against Winnipeg on Wednesday night despite the fact the Jets are nine points ahead of Nashville (with two games in hand) in the Central Division standings.
The general rule of thumb in the NHL is that home-ice advantage is worth 20 cents, so if you adjusted the odds to a neutral venue you’d get Nashville as a +100 underdog against Winnipeg.
In other words: Pretty close to a coin flip.Â
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The Jets have also been going well of late and they have Connor Hellebuyck, the favorite to win the Vezina Trophy, in goal.
But the Preds have an all-world goaltender of their own in Juuse Saros and they are just as strong at five-on-five as the Jets.
There’s very little that separates these two teams right now, so I’ll take a shot on the rising Preds.
The play:Â Predators (+135, BetMGM)