Predators vs. Jets playoff preview

Nashville Predators vs. Winnipeg Jets
Predators: 53-18-11, 117 points, first in Central
Jets:52-20-10, 114 points, second in Central
Season series:NSH 3-1-1; WPG: 2-3-0

The skinny

The Western Conference Second Round will feature the NHL's top two teams from the regular season.
The Nashville Predators won the Presidents' Trophy with a relentless game that included elite defense and goaltending by Pekka Rinne. Nashville allowed 204 goals during regular season, two more than the Los Angeles Kings, who finished with the fewest goals allowed in the NHL.
The Winnipeg Jets used their speed and size to pressure opponents. Winnipeg scored 273 goals during the regular season; only the Tampa Bay Lightning (290) scored more.
RELATED: [Complete Predators vs. Jets series coverage]
Game 1 is at Nashville on Friday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN360, TVAS).
The five head-to-head games during the regular season were intense, when the teams combined for 41 goals.
"High-event games," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "Because something is happening all the time, right? They're either very physical, I think really fast, or great saves. Neither team is passive in how they play. Neither team sits back and tries to slow the game down in terms of what they do with the puck. There's lots of action in these games."

The Predators agreed with Maurice's assessment.
"It's going to be physical, fast," Nashville forward Nick Bonino said. "They have a lot of skilled guys, a lot of guys who can find the net. They're deep on the back end and they have another great goalie who got a ton of wins too. We all know what's coming. We all know how hard it's going to be and we have to get ready for it."
Nashville was better in goals against (216-204), and Winnipeg scored more (273-261). The Predators were plus-40 in 5-on-5 goals. The Jets were plus-32.
The Jets had the League's best home record at 32-7-2 (and won their three games at Bell MTS Place during the first round against the Minnesota Wild). The Predators were 28-9-4 at Bridgestone Arena but had the most road points (57). Winnipeg was tied for sixth with the Philadelphia Flyers (48).

Game breaker

Jets: Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien was a force in the first round. Not only did he have five assists in five games, tying Mark Scheifele (four goals, one assist) for the Winnipeg lead in scoring, he had 25 hits. Byfuglien's patient, controlled style was a big part of Winnipeg's stability in the first round.
Predators:Forward Filip Forsberg had some slick moves and high-IQ plays in the first round, scoring four goals in the six-game series against the Colorado Avalanche. That was tied for the Nashville lead with forward Austin Watson. With speed, and ability to change direction and control the puck, Forsberg is a threat whenever he's on the ice.

X-factor

Jets:Forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who had 60 points (29 goals, 31 assists) in 82 games, was quiet in the first round (two assists). His speed is exceptional and he has the ability to make opponents look bad and slow. If his scoring reappears, it could bode well.
Predators:Coming off an NHL career high 25 goals, forward Craig Smith is exactly the kind of player that might be overlooked when you consider the talent in this series. Smith is gritty and always seems to find a way to contribute (51 points in 76 games this season). He has 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 24 games against the Jets.

Goaltending

Jets: Connor Hellebuyck, a Vezina Trophy finalist, passed his first postseason test against the Wild with a 4-1 record, a 1.94 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage. The 24-year-old had a shutout in the final two games and came within 45 seconds of another in a 4-1 win in Game 2. Steve Mason is Hellebuyck's backup, though he missed Game 5 of the first round with an undisclosed injury.

Predators: Rinne, another Vezina finalist (Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning is the other), was 4-2 in the first round with a 2.60 goals-against average and .909 save percentage. Rinne, 35, has 76 playoff starts. Juuse Saros, who had 11 wins during the regular season, is the backup.

Numbers to know

Jets: They faced a considerable disadvantage in the first round; the Wild had far more playoff experience, 748-264 in games played. That total is even higher against Nashville, which had 1,204 games of experience at the start of the playoffs. However, that didn't bother Winnipeg much in the first round, when it used 10 players (Hellebuyck, Ehlers, Tucker Poolman, Andrew Copp, Brandon Tanev, Patrik Laine, Joel Armia, Josh Morrissey, Jack Roslovic and Kyle Connor) who had never been in the NHL postseason before. The Predators have one player on their roster, 19-year-old Eeli Tolvanen, who has never played a playoff game.
Predators: Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm, P.K. Subban and Ryan Ellis were part of a defense which led the NHL with 203 points this season. That offense-from-defense style has had an impact on most games. Subban, a finalist for the Norris Trophy, led Nashville defensemen with 59 points (16 goals, 43 assists) in 82 games.

They said it

"Both barns are going to be very hostile. We expect a pretty loud one going in for Game 1 and look for it to continue throughout the series. They're going to be feeding off their crowd. We're definitely going to be feeding of ours. It's going to be fun to be a part of." -- Jets defenseman Tyler Myers
"Moving in to the second round, you want to be playing very good defensive hockey against Winnipeg. One of the better teams in the League, they have a lot of firepower and talent up front. Like ours, their [defense] is a big part of their game. It's going to be very exciting." -- Predators goalie Pekka Rinne

Will win if …

Jets: They can use their speed throughout the series. If their quickness and playmaking, key elements to their game, can reach some consistency, chances will be created and that will give them plenty of momentum.
Predators:Their defense is dangerous and productive, as it has been throughout the season. Those facets of their game are extremely hard to defend, and the fact that the danger comes from more than one player adds to the threat.

How they look

Jets projected lineup
Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Nikolaj Ehlers -- Paul Stastny -- Patrik Laine
Jack Roslovic -- Bryan Little -- Joel Armia
Andrew Copp -- Adam Lowry -- Brandon Tanev
Josh Morrissey -- Jacob Trouba
Joe Morrow -- Dustin Byfuglien
Ben Chiarot -- Tyler Myers
Connor Hellebuyck
Steve Mason
Scratched: Matt Hendricks, Shawn Matthias, Marco Dano, Tucker Poolman
Injured: Toby Enstrom (lower body), Dmitry Kulikov (back), Mathieu Perreault (upper body)

Predators projected lineup

Filip Forsberg -- Ryan Johansen -- Viktor Arvidsson
Kevin Fiala -- Kyle Turris -- Craig Smith
Colton Sissons -- Nick Bonino -- Austin Watson
Calle Jarnkrok -- Mike Fisher -- Ryan Hartman
Roman Josi -- Ryan Ellis
Mattias Ekholm -- P.K. Subban
Alexei Emelin -- Matt Irwin
Pekka Rinne
Juuse Saros
Scratched: Anthony Bitetto, Scott Hartnell, Anders Lindback, Miikka Salomaki, Eeli Tolvanen
Injured: Yannick Weber (upper body)

Status report

Weber hasn't played since March 24. ... Enstrom missed the final eight games of the regular season and didn't play in the first round, but is skating. ... Kulikov, out for the final 15 games of the regular season, has not been skating. ... Perreault played 6:52 in Game 1 against the Wild but was injured and didn't play in the rest of the series. The Jets have given no update on his status.
NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report.