Predators’ surge toward the playoffs faces rugged reality check

By John Glennon

The Predators’ season looked all but decided nearly two months ago when they slogged to the locker room in Tampa Bay, fresh from a 6-3 spanking that left the team 11-16-1 at the halfway point.

It was around that time that Adam Vingan, The Athletic’s fine beat writer, sent out an exasperated-sounding tweet to Predators fans: “What keeps you watching this team?”

The sentiment was near universal, as – at the time -- there seemed little for the gold-clad faithful to look forward to, aside from a pending blow-it-all-sky-high trade deadline.

All that to say that what the Predators have done since then has been pretty remarkable, even after the team’s disappointing loss to lowly Columbus on Wednesday. They’ve posted an 18-7-1 record since the midway mark – thanks in large part to an 11-2 stretch – and they’ve leapfrogged Columbus, Chicago and Dallas into fourth place in the Central Division standings.

Heading into this weekend’s games, the resurgent Predators now have a 94.9 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to moneypuck.com.

But they’re not quite out of the woods yet, not with a magic . . .

This is a premium article, and you've reached the end of the free preview.

The rest of this content is restricted to Broadway Insiders. Register for an Broadway Insider Pass to view this post in its entirety.

If you're not ready to unlock everything Broadway Sports has to offer, you can return to our home page and view all the free content available right at your fingertips.

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS	STANDARD (FREE)	BSM INSIDER PASS ($6.99/mo)
Comments on Articles	✔︎	✔︎
BSM Podcast Network	✔︎	✔︎
Access to Free Articles and Videos	✔︎	✔︎
ALL Premium Articles		✔︎
EARLY Access to Select Written, Video and Audio Content		✔︎
EXCLUSIVE Access to the full Mike Herndon Show		✔︎
PRIVATE Invitations to Livestreams and Q&A's		✔︎
EXCLUSIVE Access to the New Broadway Morning Newsletter		✔︎
EXCLUSIVE Invitation to Private Fantasy Leagues and Competitions		✔︎

Register New Account

Username

First Name

Last Name

Password

Password Again

Choose one of the following:

Standard - free - unlimited
A standard membership is required for participating in comments and forums.
Monthly Broadway Insider Pass - $6.99 - 1 Month
Access all premium content on the site. Automatically renews each month. LIMITED TIME OFFER: Use code "insider" to get your first month for only $0.99. After the first month, Monthly payments of $6.99/mo will resume.
Yearly Broadway Insider Pass - $69.99 - 1 Year
Access all premium content on the site. Annual commitments receive a 15% savings ($5.83/month). LIMITED TIME OFFER: Use code "annual" to get your first year for only $49.99. After the first year, payments of $69.99/year will resume.
Heimerdinger Foundation: Monthly All-Access Pass - $9.99 - 1 Month
Broadway Sports is proud to partner with The Heimerdinger Foundation for this special membership. 25% of proceeds from this level is donated directly to the foundation.

Discount Code - Valid - Invalid

I agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Author: John GlennonMulti-media journalist with extensive expertise covering the NFL, NHL, professional soccer and more, including the Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators for The Tennessean with articles, videos and podcasts. Strengths include the ability to write quick, concise and thorough analysis, as well as the ability to uncover unique human-interest stories. In working as a reporter, John developed skills that extend beyond the sports journalism world. An efficient and effective communicator, John is confident, calm and productive under deadline pressure and knows the power of the written word. John brings to Broadway Sports a work ethic second to none, an intellectual hunger, and an ability to inform and entertain readers, viewers and listeners. Reach out directly to John at: