Goals Against/Game - Nashville: 2.49 (2nd) | Colorado: 2.88 (14th)
Nashville finished 11 goals off from allowing the fewest in the NHL and thereby winning the Jennings Trophy. Only the Los Angeles Kings allowed a smaller total of goals during the regular season than the Predators.
Power-play Percentage - Colorado: 21.9% (8th) | Nashville: 21.2% (12th)
Statistically, the Avalanche ranked higher than the Predators in just two of the major categories - both on special teams. Colorado's power play ended the regular season ranked in the Top 10 in the NHL, while Nashville's fell - predominantly in the month of March - to 12th overall after a strong start to the season.
The Predators had more power-play goals in the teams' season series, however. Roman Josi, Craig Smith, Mattias Ekholm and Kyle Turris all had PPGs versus the Avalanche. MacKinnon and Rantanen split the Avs' two man-advantage goals.
"Huge. It's so important every year," Johansen said of power plays in a playoff series. "We've worked on a bunch of that today, and I'm sure we'll continue that the next couple of days just to sharpen up on everything. When you get those opportunities throughout the game, you have to make them pay. Especially if they're being undisciplined or taking dumb penalties. You want to make sure you [convert] on your opportunities."
Penalty-kill Percentage - Colorado: 83.3% (4th) | Nashville: 81.9% (6th)
Colorado and Nashville both excelled at killing off an opponent's power-play opportunities during the 2017-18 season. Said Johansen of facing MacKinnon:
"He's been one of the better players in the League this year and it's always a challenge playing against him. That's what you want, as a player, and I know myself, as an individual, I love being matched up [an opponent's top players. If [our line is] matched up against him, it'll be a great challenge for us and we'll look forward to that for sure."
Shots For/Game - Nashville: 32.2 (14th) | Colorado: 29.7 (30th)
A key part of Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette's system is a high volume of shots, especially from the point.
Shots Against/Game - Nashville: 32.4 (21st) | Colorado: 33.3 (27th)
Nashville ended up allowing more shots per game than they traditionally do under Laviolette, but the season-long statistics are somewhat misleading. Following the return of Ryan Ellis, the Predators allowed nearly a half shot fewer per game in 44 games (32.07), which would have ranked them 16th in the League.
Shot Attempts Percentage (e.g. Corsi) - Nashville: 51.51% (8th) | Colorado: 47.58% (27th)
The advanced statistics may be some of the most encouraging numbers from the Predators' perspective. Nashville finished in the Top 10 in maintaining possession and producing shot attempts toward their opponent's net during 5-on-5 play; seven of those 10 teams qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Shot Attempts Percentage When Tied - Nashville: 53.66% (2nd) | Colorado: 46.55% (28th)
This subset of SAT% takes into consideration how much a team generates shots (and offense) when the score is tied. Admittedly there should probably be an asterisk next to this statistic, but in essence, it's trying to illustrate how much a team can drive offense and maintain possession with everything else is equal (a tie score and 5-on-5 play). The Predators were dominant in this respect.
Face-off Win Percentage - Nashville: 53.3% (2nd) | Colorado: 44.2% (31st)
Nashville's center depth may help to swing the Round One series in general, and it could also help the Predators start with possession in the offensive zone or help to clear a puck from the defensive zone during a late-game penalty kill. The Preds and Avs are on opposite ends of the spectrum at the face-off dot.
