Game 20 of Remaining 29: Nashville at Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Penguins: 45-21-6 (96 points)

4th in the Eastern Conference

VS.

Nashville Predators: 42-23-8 (92 points)

5th in the Western Conference

What a matchup. There are so many intriguing story lines for this game that I don’t even know if I can cover them all. First, let’s talk about the goalies. This is a battle of the two top wins leaders in the NHL. Both Marc-Andre Fleury and Pekka Rinne have 39. Something has to give. This game also features the third best penalty kill in the NHL (Pittsburgh at 89.0 percent) and the best powerplay in the NHL (Nashville at 21.6 percent) battling head to head. Once again, something has to give. Finally, this is only the fifth game after the return of the Penguins most skilled player, Sidney Crosby. To shadow that, this marks the return of  Alexander Radulov, possibly the most skilled player for Nashville. Tonight will be a battle of great defenses, solid goaltending and consistent scoring. Twenty games back I predicted the Preds to take this one, but it very well could be a toss up at this point. My prediction: Pens LOSE.

My final 29 prediction record: 8-11