Predators’ defence will demand Penguins’ full attention

Getting back to the Stanley Cup final didn’t require that much, really.

All the Penguins had to do was survive a seven-game Eastern Conference final that needed an extra 25 minutes and nine seconds in the final game to yield the goal that determined they, not Ottawa, would face Nashville in the final.

OK, so much for the easy part of their playoff run.

Next up are the Western Conference champion Predators, whose lineup is infused with outstanding talent.

Even with No. 1 centre Ryan Johansen out because of a seasonending thigh injury, there are game-breaking forwards such as Filip Forsberg and James Neal.

What’s more, Nashville has a world-class goaltender, Pekka Rinne, who owns the best goalsagainst average (1.70) and save percentage (.941) among goalies with more than five appearances in these playoffs.

Oh, and one more thing: The Predators defence corps probably is the finest in the NHL.

The Penguins are in the final for the second consecutive year, at least in part, because of commendable work by their defencemen, who are getting by mostly on guts and grit and guile.

Conversely, the Predators’ top four defencemen — Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm — might be the primary reason Nashville has reached the final for the first time in franchise history, for they are a group that rivals any in the game, and surpasses most.

It is a mobile unit that moves the puck quickly and efficiently, and is equally adept at producing goals — those four defencemen rank among the Predators’ top eight scorers — and preventing them.

“They’re a very good D-corps,” Penguins defenceman Ian Cole said. “They’re great defensively. They’re great offensively. They’re going to be a challenge.”

Subban is one of the game’s biggest personalities, and his appearance in the Cup final — less than one year after a controversial trade that sent him to Nashville from Montreal — is sure to command a lot of attention in the next couple of weeks.

But even if some fans and media members are tempted to focus solely on him, the Penguins can’t afford to.

Not unless they want to be caught unprepared when Josi makes a breathtaking end-to-end dash, or when Ekholm or Ellis unleashes a blistering shot from the point.

Although Subban gets most of the headlines, identifying the dominant figure on Nashville’s blue line isn’t easy. Neither is singling out the unit’s greatest strength.

Its key asset, however, might be good skating, because that factors into almost everything the group’s core members do, whether it’s joining an offensive rush or recovering to make a play in the defensive zone.

Ellis is the leading scorer among Nashville’s defencemen, with 11 points in 16 games, but Josi and Subban are just one point behind. All are capable of getting involved in the attack to create an odd-man advantage if they sense an opportunity.

“When they’re on the ice, you have to be aware because they can make plays and move the puck fast,” Penguins forward Carter Rowney said.

The obvious way to keep the Nashville defencemen from getting involved in the offence is to keep play in the Predators zone, forcing them to concentrate their attention and energies on not allowing the Penguins to score.

Once Nashville gets the puck, though, the Penguins will have to have a strategy to limit the role guys like Ellis and Subban play in the Predators attack.

“We just have to be prepared to kind of get in their way and make it difficult for them to get up the ice,” Penguins winger Conor Sheary said. That won’t be easy, of course. Then again, very little in these playoffs has been.