The set-up: The St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators finished third and fourth, respectively, in the Central Division. Then both teams went out and pulled off impressive upsets in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Blues needed just five games to dispatch the Minnesota Wild, who finished seven points above St. Louis in the Central. Meanwhile, the Predators, as the West's No. 8 seed, executed a stunning four-game sweep of the top-seeded Chicago Blackhawks, holding Chicago to a total of just three goals in the entire series (won shutouts in the first two games of the series, both in Chicago!). The teams open the series tonight in St. Louis and let's note that Nashville won three of five regular-season meetings against St. Louis, although the teams have played only once since December, a 4-1 Blues victory in St. Louis on April 2.

Nashville: Pekka Rinne posted his fewest wins (31) in a full season since 2008-09 but the veteran goalie was brilliant against the Blackhawks, turning away 123 of the 126 shots he faced, while coming within 5 1/2 minutes of posting three shutouts in the series. Nashville's No. 1 line features 31-goal scorers Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson flanking center Ryan Johansen, who tied for the team lead in scoring during the regular season and had a goal and five assists.against Chicago. The Predators also feature an strong group of defensemen, led by the pairings of Romlan Josi-Ryan Ellis and P.K. Subban-Mattias Ekholm. Each player logged at least 20 minutes in all four games versus the Blackhawks.

St. Louis: Jake Allen had his share of rocky moments in net during the regular season (like Rinne) but he set the tone against the Wild with a 51-save performance on the road in Game 1 and turned aside 174 of 182 shots in the series, boosting his save percentage to .942 since Yeo took over for Hitchcock. While St. Louis forward Vladimir Tarasenko is the most dangerous offensive player on the ice for either side with 116 goals over the past three seasons, the return of linemate Paul Stastny from a month-long injury absence and the late-season addition of Vladimir Sobotka from the Kontinental Hockey League bolsters the team's balance.

The pick: Allen was terrific against the Wild but Rinne was even better against the Blackhawks. This is the first time the Blues and Predators have met in the playoffs and while the Blues advanced to the conference finals last season (where they lost to the Sharks), the Predators have never advanced that far. St, Louis head coach Mike Yeo has done a great job since taking over the Blues and let's not forget, he spent five years behind the Minnesota bench before he was fired 14 months ago. He may know just a little Nashville's strengths and weaknesses. Make the Blues a 10* play.