Bubbly NHL Playoff Preview: Canucks (1) vs. Predators (5)

History was made in Round 1 of the Western Conference Playoffs. After years of being pushed around and abused by their rivals, a team finally exorcised the demons, sacked up and overcame an obstacle that had been standing in the way of the franchise's progress for years.

We're of course talking about the Nashville Predators finally winning a playoff round.

Oh, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Blackhawks, too.

The season series was at 2-2, with the teams splitting games on the other's home ice. Nashville had the lead in goals, 8-6. None of the games were sterling examples of precision offensive hockey.

Can the Predators pull a second upset in their underdog quest for the Cup? Or have the Canucks finally shaken their shackles and are ready to embark on a Cup run of their own?

The Sedins were held in check by the Blackhawks, which means they only managed a combined 12 points (with five goals from Daniel). The first line of defense for the Predators might be the checking duo of Jarred Smithson and Nick Spaling. But On The Forecheck thinks that Mike Fisher's line could be used against them too.

One of the keys for the series will be the goal-scoring of Ryan Kesler, who will be freed from his death-struggle with Jonathan Toews to focus a little more on offense. He had four assists and no goals in the opening round. Alex Burrows found his game in Game 6 and that continued over to his mythmaking performance in Game 7.

One line to watch out for: The energy line of Jannik Hansen, Chris Higgins and Max Lapierre, which can generate chances and create chaos on the boards.

During the regular season, the Predators had two players north of 20 goals and 10 players in double-digits. That spread-out offense continued in Round 1 against the Ducks, as six forwards scored two or more goals and two of them (Mike Fisher and Joel Ward) scored three.

Fisher skates with Patric Honrqvist and Sergei Kostitsyn on a dangerous line for the Preds, as they combined for 13 points in six games vs. Anaheim. But the line that really provided a lift in the opening round was Smithson, Spaling (the Game 6 hero) and Jordin Tootoo, who managed five points and 22 penalty minutes.

Martin Erat is expected back and can create offensive on his own. Ditto veteran Steve Sullivan. David Legwand had four points in the opening round.

Here's a fun game: Ask a random fan which player led the Predators in scoring this year. If they say J.P. Dumont, feel free to dismiss their next opinion.

The Often-Injured Sami Salo will miss Game 1, but the Canucks are stacked on the blue line. Dan Hamhuis, the former career-long Predator, was a physical presence against the Blackhawks and skated 3:15 per game shorthanded. Kevin Bieksa led the team with 25:05 average TOI. Christian Erhoff had four points in the opening round, and skated well with Alex Edler. Keith Ballard and Andrew Alberts fill out the ranks with Aaron Rome.

Has there been another defenseman that's had the impact of Shea Weber in the playoffs? Three goals, two helpers and three of those points on the power play, skating 26:29 per game. Ryan Suter, his partner in crime, is fifth in the NHL in average ice time with 27:28 per game.

Kevin Klein has been essential to the penalty kill, while rookie Jonathan Blum has looked good … at least when Bobby Ryan wasn't mistaking his foot for a porterhouse steak.

One rather large X-factor in the series: Shane O'Brien, the former Canuck tough guy who was shipped out of town and resurrected his career with the Predators. Stay away from the Roxy, sir. Far away.

So much time is spent psychoanalyzing Roberto Luongo that it's easy to forget he's got very good playoff numbers against teams that don't have an Indian Head on their sweaters. Now that he's vanquished the Blackhawks and gotten over his benching (one assumes), will we see something closer to the 2.11 GAA and .928 save percentage form that earned him a Vezina nod?

If the Predators are going to win this series, Pekka Rinne has to be better. A lot better. Like, steal a game or two better. Because after one round, he's got a 3.29 GAA and an .876 save percentage, which is worse than that of Ilya Bryzgalov's sieve impression vs. Detroit. Ask the Preds, and he's their regular season MVP. That they won a round with Rinne average-to-below-average is impressive. But it won't happen a second time against a team like Vancouver.

Waiting in the wings for both teams are rookies Cory Schneider, who famously started Game 6 against Chicago, and Anders Lindback.

IT'S TOWEL POWER TIME! (And please try not to stare at the Green Mens' …er .... green men.)

Things got a little hairy for Alain Vigneault in Round 1, with the Blackhawks nearly coming back from 3-0 to win the series. To his credit, he was able to get Vancouver playing the brand of hockey that won them three games straight in Game 7. Can he manage to keep the Sedins away from Weber/Suter? Big picture: Did he handle Luongo correctly in the previous round?

Barry Trotz, the perennially underrated coach, orchestrated a victory against the Ducks and enters his first Stanley Cup semifinal round as a head coach. Much of his work will be about managing the emotions for his players, especially when it comes to playing in front of an amped home crowd in Games 3 and 4.

The Canucks are 4-for-18 on the power play for a 22.2 percent conversation rate. They're 24-for-30 on shorthanded for an 80-percent kill rate.

The Predators are 6-for-27 on the power play for a 22.2 percent conversation rate. They're 14-for-22 shorthanded for a 63.6-percent kill rate, which really needs to improve this series. Their power play also didn't score in 14 chances against Vancouver in the regular season.

We don't believe this reads "TOEWS SCORES ON THE REBOUND" on the back. Or at least we hope.

The Canucks must feel like the weight of the world is lifted off their backs. This is either a good thing or a bad thing. It's a good thing if it means a spirited, short series win over the Predators based on the momentum. It's a bad thing if they can't conjure a third of the emotion and effort they spent on Chicago against a rested and ready Nashville team.

The pick is Vancouver in six because (a) Rinne will be better and (b) the Predators are going to win a couple games ugly but ultimately (c) because, when it needs to, Vancouver can take over games with its speed and skill.