Red Wings Playoff Schedule 2012: Odds & Predictions for Series vs Predators

After a successful season that saw the Detroit Red Wings finish with 102 points, the team earned itself a fifth-seed and a date with the very talented Nashville Predators.

The Red Wings are 2-0 all-time in series against Nashville, having knocked them out of the playoffs in 2004 and 2008.

Will Detroit have the same success against Nashville this year? Or is this the year the Predators handle the Red Wings in the playoffs?

Let's find out.

Stanley Cup Odds

According to Bovada, the Red Wings have 12-to-1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup this season.

Series Analysis

For my money, the key to this series will be the play of goaltender Jimmy Howard. He was spectacular earlier this season, but between breaking his finger and dealing with a nagging groin injury, he hasn't been as dominant in later months.

Still, he's been solid in April, posting a .937 save percentage. He'll be a huge factor in this one, especially with Pekka Rinne manning the opposite goal.

The rest of the Red Wings can certainly help Howard's cause, so long as the defense isn't sacrificed in the offensive attack. That could be dangerous against a strong defensive team in Nashville that has plenty of two-way players capable of quickly transitioning from defense to offense.

In terms of special teams, there's no question this team can score at even-strength—they have the NHL's best "five-on-five goals for/against" ratio in the NHL at 1.44—but they'll need an improved power play if they hope to win this series. The 16.1 power play scoring percentage they posted in the regular season isn't good enough.

The penalty kill could be an issue as well, as Nashville converts 21.6 percent of its power plays to goals, tops in the NHL. Special teams may very well be a huge factor before this one closes.

The other factor could be Nashville's home-ice advantage, if for no other reason than Detroit is far better at home than they are on the road. That shouldn't come as a surprise given the 23-game winning streak they posted at Joe Louis Arena this year, though the 17-21-3 mark they posted on the road was poor, to say the least.

It can't be understated how much talent Detroit in its top two lines, and those players are capable of carrying Detroit to a series win. But it won't be an easy battle, and Nashville looks like the more well-rounded team at this point.

Prediction

This will be an excellent series, but I think Nashville will prevail in a thrilling series that goes the full seven games.

It will certainly be a heartbreaking way for Detroit to end a very successful 2012 campaign.

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets are growing a playoff beard.