The Nashville Predators have a chance to become the first team to move through the second round in the 2017 NHL playoffs, while their potential next draw in the Anaheim Ducks are starting to show their might.This is still far from a done deal, though, as the St. Louis Blues are improving in this series. On the other side of the Western Conference, the Edmonton Oilers are starting to see their season slip away, but their young stars could certainly explode once again to lead them past a veteran Anaheim team.With that in mind, let us take a look at the remaining television and live-stream schedules for these two matchups, as well as for the Eastern Conference. Continue along for a preview of the Game 5s on Friday.Nashville at St. LouisThe Ryan Ellis show kept rolling in Game 4, as the defenseman scored the contest's opening goal before James Neal sealed the win with a wicked top-shelf wrist shot.Ellis now has five points in the series and nine points overall in eight postseason games. He, Mattias Ekholm, Roman Josi and P.K. Subban, are proving themselves to be the best top-four defensive group in the NHL, and Ellis is making team history with his offensive output, per the Predators:Nashville's defense is undoubtedly helping out Pekka Rinne, who leads the league with a 1.33 GAA and a .953 save percentage. Yet, the Finnish goaltender is still playing at a Conn Smythe level, which was evident in his 32-save effort on Tuesday. St. Louis was the better team for the most part that night, but Game 4 was the first time this postseason the Blues outshot the opposition.The latter is a good sign for the Blues, since its offense is averaging 2.11 goals and 26.7 shots per game, which is last among remaining playoff teams. The St. Louis players, like Scottie Upshall, are optimistic that they can start to find more if they crowd Rinne's net, per Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:"We've been able to find ways to score at home against Pekka. We got our chances (on the road), but he is a world-class goalie that doesn't give up rebounds when he sees pucks. He smothered a lot of good shooting opportunities. We have to get second and third chances, and to do that you have to be standing on top of him, you've got to find ways to skate by him and, even if he's out of his crease, you're bumping him because you're right there. It's second and third efforts that we need to worry about."St. Louis has been slightly better at home in the playoffs at generating chances with an average of 27.25 shots per game, but it only has six goals in four games. In addition to creating more traffic in front of Rinne, the Blues also can increase their offensive production with more consistency from Vladimir Tarasenko, who only has five points in nine postseason games.Nashville is likely to win this series, especially since its won its last eight home playoff games. Yet, this veteran St. Louis team is too experienced to go out of this series with a whimper at home. Tarasenko responded to a home loss with two goals in Game 2 of this matchup, and he will show up again with a big night to keep the Blues alive on Friday. Edmonton at AnaheimThe rise of the Oilers behind Connor McDavid was the central storyline entering this series, but as good as he is, it is apparent that he still has another level to reach in the postseason.The stage is set for Ryan Getzlaf, who is leaving no doubt that he is the best player in this series.The Anaheim captain is using his elite size, skill and vision to absolutely pulverize Edmonton. He has eight points in four games this series, along with 13 points in eight postseason games overall. Getzlaf drove the offense in a must-win Game 4, posting four points.Following the game, Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said Getzlaf's game may be as great as it's ever been, per TSN's Frank Seravalli:Getzlaf also started to get Corey Perry involved in this series, as the big winger recored his first point in the four games along with series-highs of plus-3 and 20 minutes, 30 seconds of ice time. It is unknown for sure if Perry will skate with Getzlaf again due to Patrick Eaves' status, but if Perry can get rolling, the Ducks will be unstoppable with the collection of offensive playmakers they already have.As for Edmonton, it is starting to show some cracks of inexperience in the last two games. In Game 3, the Oilers spotted Anaheim a 3-0 lead before getting rolled over 6-3 despite rallying to tie the contest. The following meeting, Edmonton squandered a two-goal lead in a crucial game.Goaltender Cam Talbot, who Edmonton has relied on a bit this series, was also uncharacteristically lit up for four goals on 35 shots after allowing six goals in Game 3. Per Sportsnet, Talbot typically responds glowingly in such situations:Edmonton possesses two elite offensive talents in Leon Draisaitl and McDavid that are pacing its offense and keeping this series close, but Anaheim's tremendous depth is starting to take over.Rickard Rakell has goals in his last two games and Jakob Silfverberg is going off with nine points this postseason. The Ducks also have swift-skating defensemen on all three pairs that are shredding Edmonton with quick breakout passes or rushes through the neutral zone en route to scoring chances.This series may very well go to seven games, but Anaheim has to be the favorite in each game moving forward. The Ducks are the deeper, more experienced team, and they are simply clicking at the moment.Statistics are courtesy of NHL.com unless otherwise noted.
Click here to read full news..
