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With just three games left in the regular season, the Predators have comfortably nestled themselves into a playoff spot… but so have the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks. Because Nashville has failed to notch wins in the last three games, St. Louis has pulled ahead of the Predators by one point, 105 to 104. Okay, so not winning the Central Division won’t be the end-all-be-all; after all, we are looking towards the future playoff games, right? Well… you know that little rift between Chicago and Nashville, yea? That scenario could just rear its ugly head earlier than Preds fans had hoped.

Here’s how the match-ups would look if the playoffs started today:

Yep, you are reading that correctly. If the playoffs started today, you’d be looking at a match-up between the Predators and Blackhawks in the first round. But you laugh and say, “But the playoffs don’t start today so there’s no need to panic us.” No, I am not trying to cause mass hysteria, but here’s a little secret: if the Predators don’t win the Central Division and the Wild don’t surpass the Blackhawks, this match-up is happening.

Now, it’s not that the Predators cannot beat the Blackhawks; after all, the Blackhawks only beat the Predators in regulation once within their meetings this season, with Nashville winning one. Not the best of records but those one-pointers helped push us above the ‘Hawks nonetheless. However, with the “heartless” way that Nashville has been playing as of late, it’s looking a little iffy for the first round of playoffs, no matter who the Predators get paired with.

Now, you probably have already known about this possibly pairing, as the Predators reported on it yesterday. Well, this is for all of my followers living under textbooks – err, rocks – and do not see everything that gets posted.

So, who’s left on Nashville’s regular calendar? At Colorado tomorrow, Minnesota at home Thursday, and rounding it out in Dallas on Saturday. Can Nashville beat all those opponents to jump ahead of St. Louis? Absolutely… if they – um – wake up.