Stanley Cup Playoff Buzz: Predators, Jets get ready for Game 7

Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz, a daily look at the 2018 NHL postseason. There were no games Tuesday. The next game is Thursday, when the Nashville Predators host the Winnipeg Jets in Game 7 of the Western Conference Second Round. The conference finals begin Friday.

Need to know

Forsberg leading Predators

Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg is making spectacular goals look routine. Forsberg, 23, leads the Predators in goals (seven) and points (15) in 12 playoff games, and he scored another highlight-reel goal in Nashville’s 4-0 win against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 6. The Predators will need a big effort from Forsberg in Game 7 on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports). The winner will face the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final.

Video: Filip Forsberg’s stellar postseason play

Scheifele fueling Jets

Center Mark Scheifele is a big reason the Jets are one win away from the first trip to the conference final in franchise history. He’s second in the playoffs with nine goals, including five in the first six games against Nashville, but has flown under the radar among the League’s elite. That would likely change if he can help the Jets win Game 7.

Watching and waiting

While the Predators and Jets get ready for Game 7, the Golden Knights are waiting to see where they’ll be going to open the Western Conference Final on Saturday. Vegas will start the series on the road no matter which team wins, and coach Gerard Gallant isn’t voicing any preferences.

Video: McPhee on Golden Knights exceeding expectations

Planning for Ovi

Alex Ovechkin has scored 43 goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning in his NHL career. Coach Jon Cooper knows that to get the Lightning into the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2015, they must shut down the League’s goal-scoring leader (49). But knowing what to do and actually doing it are two different things. One key to stopping Ovechkin will be a big series from goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who along with Washington’s Braden Holtbyhas been superb through the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Trotz in uncharted territory

Cooper’s counterpart with the Capitals, Barry Trotz, is in the conference finals for the first time in his 19 seasons as an NHL coach following Washington’s series-clinching 2-1 overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Second Round. He has the Capitals buying into the kind of hockey it takes to win in the playoffs. It’s the first time the Capitals have been past the second round since 1998, when they made their lone trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

Video: Previewing the Capitals vs. Lightning series