Dallas @ Nashville preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 19, 2019 ) Nashville 5, Dallas 3

The Nashville Predators had to go to the final night of the regular season to win the Central Division title but, as they found out a year ago, that does not guarantee playoff success. Making a fifth successive trip to the postseason, Nashville faces a familiar foe when it hosts the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night in a Western Conference first-round matchup.

The Predators won the Presidents' Trophy last season but they were bounced by division rival Winnipeg in the second round and are intent on avoiding a repeat against another Central foe who will they face in next year's Winter Classic. "They've got a deep team, more than they probably get credit for," Nashville center Ryan Johansen said of Dallas. "They've got a lot of solid players on that team. They've had some good goaltending as of late and obviously a few big stars that we need to have our eye on. It's going to be a lot of fun." Dallas went 5-1-1 down the stretch to take the top wild card and reach the playoffs for only the third time in 11 seasons behind stellar netminding and a defense that allowed the second-fewest goals in the league. "We're a confident group going in," captain Jamie Benn said. "We know Nashville is the real deal. ... They're good from top to bottom, great goalie. We're going to have to be prepared."

TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, USA, TVAS, Sportsnet1, FS Southwest (Dallas), FS Tennessee (Nashville)

ABOUT THE STARS (43-32-7): Ben Bishop, who formed a solid goaltending tandem with backup Anton Khudobin, missed five games down the stretch due to injury before recording his career-high seventh shutout in the regular-season finale to finish with a 1.98 goals-against average and league-best .934 save percentage. Leading scorer Tyler Seguin was among the players called out by team CEO Jim Lites and responded by collecting 48 points over his last 44 games while linemate Alexander Radulov scored 12 of his 29 goals over the past 16 games. Forward Mats Zuccarello has appeared in only two games since he was acquired from the New York Rangers at the trade deadline but practiced the past two days and is expected to skate on a line with Benn and rookie Roope Hintz.

ABOUT THE PREDATORS (47-29-6): The top line of Johansen, Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg accounted for more than one-third of the team's 236 goals despite injuries that sidelined 34-goal scorer Arvidsson for 21 games and Forsberg (22 tallies) for 17 contests. Craig Smith scored 21 times for Nashville but a pair of trade-deadline pickups failed to deliver offensively as Mikael Granlund supplied one goal and four assists in 16 games while Wayne Simmonds managed a meager three points in 17 contests. Pekka Rinne has started 83 consecutive postseason games for the Predators and sparked the team to the Stanley Cup Final two years ago, but the 36-year-old endured some inconsistent spells before winning his final four starts to reach 30 victories for the eighth time.

OVERTIME

1. Forsberg has 22 goals and 44 points in 55 playoff games.

2. Seguin had three goals and an assist in five meetings versus the Predators this season.

3. Nashville had the league's worst power play, converting on only 12.9 percent of its chances.

PREDICTION: Predators 3, Stars 2