Round One: Four Deciding Factors for Avalanche vs. Preds

The Beard is Back: The Predators were in first place in the Central Division on Jan. 2, 2018, so it might be easy to overlook how much the team improved on that day.
Defenseman Ryan Ellis returned to the Predators' lineup after missing the first 48 games of the season due to offseason knee surgery. With No. 4 back on the blue line, Nashville was able to return to the foundation on which they're built and the core strength that carried them to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final.
Since Ellis's insertion into the lineup, the Preds have an NHL-best record of 30-8-6, with the blueliner scoring nine times in 44 games.

"It's great to have him back," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "I've been talking about how good he's been defensively, but he's great offensively, too. And he has been for us. He's a big part of our offense."

Perhaps most importantly, Ellis allows Laviolette to utilize the top-two defensive pairings that represent a formidable obstacle to an opponent's top talent, while also offering balance in defensive play and scoring from the top four (including Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm and P.K. Subban).
"He brings an awful lot of stability to the backend," Laviolette said of Ellis completing the top-four on defense. "You talk about a defenseman that can contribute in all different areas, his speciality teams both ways, he takes down 23, 24, 25 minutes, can go against another team's best players, defensively strong, offensively strong and he's an excellent leader in the room. I think when you add a piece like that, which brings so many dimensions to the team, your team is going to get stronger from that."

MVP MacKinnon? The first overall pick in 2013, Nathan MacKinnon turned in his best season in the NHL in 2017-18 by nearly doubling his previous career high, scoring 39 goals and 97 points.
Following the trade of Matt Duchene to Ottawa, MacKinnon was expected to step up in the absence of one of the club's most offensively gifted players and delivered in a big way. Along with Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog, MacKinnon makes up what some experts have called the NHL's most dynamic line in the NHL season.
MacKinnon is also one of the game's fastest skaters and has posed problems for the Predators' defense during the season series, posting two goals and an assist in the four meetings. The 22-year-old forward is having an MVP-type season and will have to elevate his play even more if the Avs are to beat the Preds for the first time in three years and pull off the Round One upset.

Depth, Depth, Depth:At his trade deadline press conference, Preds General Manager David Poile explained how his staff compiles a look at the roster makeup of the four teams that reach the conference final each season.
On average, they've found that a team that makes the NHL's final four uses 15 forwards. After Nashville utilized 17 different forwards en route to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final, the lesson became that much more applicable.
As a result, even with his team playing consistently good hockey throughout the regular season, Poile made the decision to bring in even more assets for Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette to utilize should he need them.
Nashville picked up Ryan Hartman from the Chicago Blackhawks at the trade deadline, Mike Fisher ended his retirement in February and rookie Eeli Tolvanen was signed to an entry-level contract near the end of the regular season, just to name a few.
"To have the group that we have, we're a confident bunch," said Preds forward Colton Sissons. "We're just really looking forward to what we can put together as far as a playoff run this year."
"This is the group of guys we've had all year. It's been a terrific group to work with and they've kept their eye on the ball the entire time," Laviolette said. "It's good to see everyone [getting healthy]. That's another positive for me; when guys start getting back in the mix in practice, that's always a positive thing."
If Nashville gets forward Calle Jarnkrok, who has been out since March 13 with an upper-body injury, back at any point during the playoffs, they'll have 15 NHL-ready forwards on their roster. That total doesn't include two more forwards in Frederick Gaudreau and Harry Zolnierczyk - currently with Milwaukee of the AHL - who played important roles in last season's playoffs.

Key Injuries:The Avalanche were dealt a major blow on March 31 when they learned top defenseman Erik Johnson would be out at least six weeks and starting goaltender Semyon Varlamov would miss an extended period of time.
Colorado is 1-2-1 without the duo in the lineup, dropping three straight before winning the all-important final game of the season against the St. Louis Blues to clinch their first postseason berth since the 2013-14 campaign.
"It's a huge loss for us because E.J. is our top D and obviously we need him all the time," Nikita Zadorov
told the Avalanche website
. "Without him right now it's going to be tough, but it's time for other guys to step it up like they did all season long."
Jonathan Bernier has filled in during Varlamov's absence, going 19-13-3 during his first season with the Avalanche. After giving up at least four goals to the Predators in the four meetings this season, Colorado may be hard pressed to slow down Nashville's offense.