Nashville Predators vs.San Jose Sharks

Nashville Predators

The Predators finish the season with 49 wins and earned the home ice advantage. They had a great season ending that allow them to be where they are right now. The only advantage that they might have right now is the home ice advantage because they have to face one of the hottest teams in the season ending in the NHL, the San Jose Sharks.

These two teams are practically mirror images of one another; their playing style is pretty much the same. That’s why the four regular season games where such low scoring games and the overall series ended up 2-2; with no one taking the advantage in the regular season we can expect this playoff series to be very close.

The Predators could win the series if Chris Mason can handle the pressure of being the main man. Mason takes over for Tomas Vokoun, out for the season with a blood condition. He has just 43 games of NHL experience, including 22 games this season. Mason has been brilliant down the stretch, closing with a 6-0-0 run that featured 1.13 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage.

"We're going into the playoffs with some momentum. We're not limping in. We're confident as individuals, confident as a team and confident in our goaltending, and those are the right things to have in your mind this time of year."-- Predators' defenseman Dan Hamhuis.

San Jose Sharks

The Sharks had a pretty amazing finale this season, winning the last eight games when many thought they won’t make it to the playoffs. But not only did they make it to the playoffs they also got the sportbooks No. 5 seed in the east and they will be a headache for the Predators.

The Sharks need to seize the momentum they have going on right now and take it to the playoffs; this series will be one of the closest ones and they need to get all the advantage they can, even if it means motivation entering the post season.

"It's been pretty amazing the run we've been on the past couple of months and to finish as high as fifth when so many people projected us to not even make the playoffs just 2-1/2 weeks ago. It's something special. But we have bigger things to look forward to now."-- Sharks' defenseman Kyle McLaren.

The playoffs are ready to start and this particular series will be an exciting and heart pounding one as both teams finishes the season in a hot streak to enter the playoffs very well positioned. If you like sports betting don’t miss the chance to bet on this series, you can get the latest NHL props and odds at WagerWeb.com.