West Matchup: (4) Nashville vs. (5) San Jose
| San Jose Sharks | Nashville Predators | |
| Power Home | 0.505 | 0.586 |
| Power Away | 0.658 | 0.531 |
| Power Total | 0.581 | 0.559 |
| Goals For | 258 | 272 |
| Goals Against | 199 | 212 |
| Diff Per Game | 0.720 | 0.732 |
| PowerPlay | 22.4% (2nd) | 17.4% (18th) |
| PenaltyKill | 83.3% (14th) | 85.8% (3rd) |
| PP+PK | 105.70% | 103.20% |
Key players for San Jose: Patrick Marleau, Evgeny Nabokov, Joe Thornton
Key players for Nashville: Kimmo Timonen, Tomas Vokoun, Paul Kariya
Analysis: Best matchup in the first round. This series will be epic.
I listed each team’s expected starting goaltender and not their very capable backups because I feel that if either of those two falters, it will be too late for his team to recover. A fast start will be very important to this series because both are so good, so well put together. A couple points to consider:
Joe Thornton put together a second straight 90 assist season but his career playoff stats are not flattering: 8 goals, 19 assists for 27 points in 46 games. Not good enough.
2nd place power play (San Jose) against 3rd ranked penalty kill.
Virtually identical goal differentials.
This will be a close one. And a fun one to watch.
Prediction: Nashville in seven