The Nashville Predators have not been bashful about their playoff status.
They ended the regular season as the eighth playoff seed in the Western Conference, as they finished in fourth place in the Central Division. They were ultimately the No. 2 wild-card team in the Western Conference.
They were supposed to go away rather quickly in the first round against the Chicago Blackhawks, the conference's top seed.
Instead, the Preds started the series with back-to-back wins in Chicago and swept Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and the favored Blackhawks out of the playoffs.
The conference semifinal round started with another road victory, this time over the St.