Stanley Cup Qualifiers preview: Predators vs. Coyotes

The Stanley Cup Qualifiers will use eight best-of-5 series and two four-team round-robins to determine the field and seeding for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

NHL.com will preview every series and round-robin prior to the start of the Qualifiers on Saturday.

Today, the qualifier series between the Nashville Predators and Arizona Coyotes.

No. 6 Nashville Predators vs. No. 11 Arizona Coyotes

Predators: 35-26-8, .565 points percentage

Coyotes:33-29-8, .529 points percentage

Season series:Tied 1-1-0

The last time the Nashville Predators and Arizona Coyotes met in the postseason was the 2012 Western Conference Second Round, with the Coyotes winning that best-of-7 series in five games.

This time around, they will meet in the Qualifiers with the Predators seeking their sixth straight appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, while the Coyotes are looking to qualify for the first time since losing in the Western Conference Final in 2012.

In the regular season, Nashville and Arizona split its two games, with each team winning at home.

One area the Coyotes seem to hold the advantage on paper is their defense. Arizona was tied for third in the NHL in goals allowed per game this season at 2.61 (Nashville was tied for 19th at 3.10), and a big reason for that was its goaltending duo of Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta. Kuemper was 16-11-2 with a 2.22 goals-against average (tied for second in League, minimum 25 games) and .928 save percentage (second), and Raanta was 15-14-3 with a 2.63 GAA and .921 save percentage (tied for seventh).

"I still believe that if you're going to go on a long run, you're going to need two goalies," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. "I'm not quite sure you can play a goalie 10 straight if you go that far. What's going on, the way the format is and what's been thrown at us, I think if you're going to go all the way, you need two goalies.

"I'm not quite sure you can just run a goalie all the way through and win a Stanley Cup. I'm not saying some goalies can't do it, but in this format, it's going to be tough. We're lucky, like I said, to have that option and not have that drop-off in a sense."

RELATED: [Predators-Coyotes series debated by former players Mason, Nash]

Nashville will be coached by John Hynes after he replaced Peter Laviolette on Jan. 7. Hynes was 16-11-1 in 28 games with the Predators before the season was paused on March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

"When you get a new coach in the middle of the season, it's more a new voice and not so much a difference in the actual systems because you don't have time to go over it," Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. "[During training camp] we really got a chance to look at the full package of what his philosophy is, how he wants us to play, and that's a really big advantage. It was awesome on the ice to pick his brain and see what he wants us to do out there."

Game breakers

Predators: Roman Josi led Nashville with an NHL career-high 65 points (16 goals, 49 assists) in 69 games this season, 17 more than forward Filip Forsberg, who was second on the Predators. Josi, who is a finalist for the Norris Trophy as the best defenseman in the League, is one of two defensemen to lead his team in scoring, along with John Carlson of the Washington Capitals.

Coyotes: Taylor Hall led Arizona with 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in 35 games after being acquired in a trade with the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 16. This will be the second appearance in the postseason for Hall. He had six points (two goals, four assists) in five games for the Devils in 2018, when he won the Hart Trophy as the League's most valuable player.

Goaltending

Predators:Juuse Saros stepped up in place of a struggling Pekka Rinne down the stretch, going 12-5-1 with a 2.22 goals-against average and .934 save percentage, including a .940 even-strength save percentage, in his last 20 games (18 starts). In that same span, Rinne was 4-6-1 with a 3.59 GAA and .895 save percentage (.904 at even strength).

Coyotes: Kuemper had a 2.17 GAA and .929 save percentage in 25 starts before sustaining a lower-body injury on Dec. 19 that kept him out for more than two months. However, he didn't miss a beat after returning on Feb. 25, posting a .924 save percentage (10 goals on 131 shots) in four games before the season was paused. Still, if Kuemper struggles, Raanta will be ready.

Numbers to know

Predators:Under Hynes, Nashville had a better power play (18.1 percent) and penalty kill (79.3 percent) than it did under Laviolette this season (16.8 percent and 74.1 percent, respectively).

Coyotes:Phil Kessel has 77 points (33 goals, 44 assists) in 87 playoff games, the most among current Arizona players. He had 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in the 2017 playoffs, including four points (one goal, three assists) in six games against Nashville to help the Pittsburgh Penguins win its second straight Stanley Cup championship.

X-factors

Predators:Rocco Grimaldi averaged 12:39 of ice time per game, but the forward set NHL career highs in goals (10), assists (21) and points (31) in 66 games this season, his second with Nashville.

Coyotes:Conor Garland will need to take advantage of his opportunities when Hall, his linemate, is closely guarded. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound forward led Arizona with 22 goals and five game-winning goals this season, and he stood out for his willingness to battle for space in front of the net despite his stature.

They said it

"Our attention to detail on the power play has got to be better. Execution level, simple little things, like if you're giving a guy a pass and he's in a one-time position, it's got to be in his wheelhouse for a one-timer. It can't be off his skate (or) not in the right position. We have the talent to have a really strong power play, but the execution, attention to detail and working as a five-man unit (are) going to be a big point of emphasis." -- Predators coach John Hynes

"To say we're an underdog ... I don't know if anyone's an underdog during this season. I think it's wide open and the team that embraces it the most is going to come out on top." -- Coyotes forward Taylor Hall

Will win if …

Predators:Their top line of Ryan Johansen, Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson can establish a dominate offensive presence. Forsberg (21 goals), Arvidsson (15) and Johansen (14) accounted for 23.6 percent of the Predators goals this season, and 35.9 percent of their power-play goals (14 of 39).

Coyotes:They control the special teams battle and receive stellar goaltending. The Coyotes were 18th in the NHL on the power play (19.2 percent) while the Predators were tied for 24th (17.3 percent). Arizona also ranked fifth in the League on the penalty kill (82.7 percent) compared to Nashville, which was tied for 28th (76.1 percent).

Predators projected lineup

Filip Forsberg -- Ryan Johansen -- Viktor Arvidsson

Kyle Turris -- Matt Duchene -- Mikael Granlund

Rocco Grimaldi -- Nick Bonino -- Craig Smith

Calle Jarnkrok -- Colton Sissons -- Austin Watson

Roman Josi -- Ryan Ellis

Mattias Ekholm -- Dante Fabbro

Dan Hamhuis -- Korbinian Holzer

Juuse Saros

Pekka Rinne

Scratched:Colin Blackwell, Daniel Carr, Michael McCarron, Eeli Tolvanen, Yakov Trenin, Alexandre Carrier, Jarred Tinordi, Yannick Weber, Troy Grosenick, Connor Ingram

Unfit to play:None

Coyotes projected lineup

Taylor Hall -- Christian Dvorak -- Conor Garland

Carl Soderberg -- Nick Schmaltz -- Phil Kessel

Lawson Crouse -- Derek Stepan -- Clayton Keller

Vinnie Hinostroza -- Brad Richardson -- Christian Fischer

Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Jason Demers

Jakob Chychrun - Alex Goligoski

Niklas Hjalmarsson - Ilya Lyubushkin

Darcy Kuemper

Antti Raanta

Scratched:Brayden Burke, Michael Chaput, Hudson Fasching, Michael Grabner, Barrett Hayton, Kyle Capobianco, Jordan Gross, Aaron Ness, Victor Soderstrom, Adin Hill

Unfit to play:None