Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
The season has been unofficially over for the Nashville Predators for quite some time. One can argue that this season was a lost cause for the Predators before they were even mathematically eliminated from postseason contention a couple of weeks ago. But that doesn’t mean they won’t impact the playoff picture.
The Predators have had a chance to impact the playoff scenarios in the Western Conference in their last couple of games. They failed to do so against the Detroit Red Wings, as they were stomped earlier this week, rather than taking advantage of the opportunity to play spoiler.
Now comes their final game of the regular season. They’ll meet the Columbus Blue Jackets on the road on Saturday night, where they can either become a part of Blue Jackets trivia history or help to bring the Jackets’ Cinderella run during this regular season to an end.
The Blue Jackets need a win to get into the postseason. They need a little bit of help outside of that, but if they don’t win, anything else that happens won’t matter. The Predators can take advantage of that scenario and help to knock a division rival out of playoff contention.
This will be the fifth time the two squads have met, and will be the last time they meet as division rivals. The Predators have only won one of their meetings to this point, but have managed a point in two. The fifth in is the biggest. What better way to bring an end to their tenure in the Central Division than assuring a team of a trip to the golf course with them?
