St. Louis Blues vs Nashville Predators: Five Keys To Victory

Apr 22, 2017; Saint Paul, MN, USA; The St Louis Blues celebrate forward Magnus Paajarvi (56) overtime winning goal against the Minnesota Wild in game five of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Xcel Energy Center. The St Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 22, 2017; Saint Paul, MN, USA; The St Louis Blues celebrate forward Magnus Paajarvi (56) overtime winning goal against the Minnesota Wild in game five of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Xcel Energy Center. The St Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
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Apr 2, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues left wing Zach Sanford (82) handles the puck against the Nashville Predators during the second period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 2, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues left wing Zach Sanford (82) handles the puck against the Nashville Predators during the second period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators will face each other for the first time ever in the playoffs. The two are evenly matched, so there are certain things that must be done to gain victory.

The St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators might be two of the most evenly matched teams left in the playoffs. Sure, you can point to the potent offenses of Washington and Pittsburgh. New York and Ottawa will be an interesting series too.

However, almost since their inception, the Blues and Predators have been evenly positioned against each other. Once Nashville grew out of their expansion diapers and put on big boy pants, it really became a rivalry.

The fact that these two teams have never met in the playoffs is almost surprising. Some of that has to do with the current format, but plenty has to do with both teams failing to live up to expectation on certain occasions.

The Blues and the Preds have had solid teams in the past that always seem to find a way to not get it done. Now, both teams seem poised to make a run to glory after surprising first round dominance against the top two teams in the Western Conference.

With the ways these teams can cancel the other out, the series will boil down to pretty simple terms. Each one will have to win all or at least the majority of the following categories if they expect to win.