It was just about two years ago to the day that the 2016-17 Preds clinched their spot in the playoffs.

That version of the Predators hardly stormed into the postseason, qualifying as the eighth-best team in the Western Conference and the 16th-best squad overall after an up-and-down regular season.

But we all know what happened next, as the Preds caught fire in the playoffs, capturing three consecutive series before falling to Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup Final.

Are there reasons to believe this Preds team is similar to the 2017 model, on the verge of something big in the postseason?

Optimistic Predators fans certainly hope so, as the Preds wind down a regular-season campaign that hasn’t lived up to the high expectations placed on the team.

The Predators’ regular season can’t be termed a failure, as Nashville sits just two points out of first place in the Central Division with five games remaining.

But just as they did two years ago, the Preds must find another gear for the playoffs, after a season that’s seen the team go just 30-25-6 after starting 13-3-0.

“I really hope there are similarities between the two years,” Predators goalie Pekka Rinne said. “Two years ago, we got hot at the right time. We were obviously one of the last teams to make the playoffs, and then all of a sudden, we were the underdogs once we got in.

“Once we got going, we never really looked back. I’m very confident that’s going to happen to this team. I feel like we’re built for the playoffs.”

A ton of talent

The biggest similarity between the 2017 playoff team and the 2019 edition is simply the team’s talented core.

It’s a group that includes Rinne, the big four — Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Roman Josi and P.K. Subban — on defense, and the uber-skilled first line of Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen and Viktor Arvidsson.

Forsberg and Arvidsson are scoring goals at the highest per-game rate of their careers this season, and Johansen is doling out assists at a higher per-game clip than he ever has. That trio carried the Predators through the 2017 postseason, even though Johansen was lost to injury in the Western Conference Final.

Sprinkle in more familiar players like Craig Smith, Colton Sissons, Calle Järnkrok and Austin Watson, and it’s clear much of this roster is the same that has participated in six rounds of playoff hockey over the past two years.

“There’s a lot of guys still here from 2017, and I think we gained a lot of experience with last year and also with the whole Cup run,” Josi said. “I think this team has a ton of talent and a lot of confidence in the room. We’re definitely a little more experienced than we were two years ago.”

A second similarity between the 2017 and 2019 teams is a relative lack of expectations at this point, compared to the 2018 Preds squad that carried a target on its back into the postseason — the result of claiming the Presidents’ Trophy during the regular season.

The 2017 Preds were the final team to earn a Western Conference playoff berth and finished the regular season by winning just two of their final seven games. They found themselves as significant underdogs heading into the playoffs, taking on a Chicago team that had finished 15 points ahead of them during the regular season — and beaten Nashville in four of five regular-season meetings.

The 2019 Preds still have an outside shot at capturing the Central Division title, but at the same time, haven’t played consistently great hockey for a while. Nashville hasn’t won more than three games in a row since November, and the Preds are likely headed for a first-round showdown with St. Louis — a team that beat them four times out of five this season.

Might another perceived underdog role give this team a boost like the 2017 version?

“That year (2017), we were kind of the true underdog fighting to get into the playoffs, and we kind of kept that momentum with us all the way to the Finals,” Sissons said. “This year we’ve been higher in the standings, so we’ve been better off in that perspective.

“But I sure hope we can find that momentum like we had (in 2017) because that helped us quite a bit, having that fight and the underdog feeling on our side. We had our fans behind us big time, and we were winning at Bridgestone. We’d love to do that again.”

COMPARISON TO BE MADE? CATEGORY 2016-17 2018-19* W-L-OL 41-29-12 (94 points) 43-28-6 (92 points) Team’s first-half record 18-16-7 (43) 24-15-2 (50) Team’s second-half record 23-13-5 (51) 19-13-4 (42) Western Conference record 27-17-6 (60) 25-21-2 (52) Central Division record 16-12-1 (33) 13-11-1 (27) Home record 24-9-8 (56) 23-13-2 (48) Road record 17-20-4 (38) 20-15-4 (44) Goals per game 2.90 (11th) 2.86 (20th) Goals against per game 2.68 (15th) 2.60 (4th) Save percentage .911 (14th) .913 (7th) High-danger save percentage .802 (27th) .838 (3rd) Shots per game 31.2 (6th) 32.6 (12th) Shots against per game 30.1 (t-15th) 29.8 (9th) Power play percentage 18.9 (16th) 12.7 (30th) Penalty kill percentage 80.9 (15th) 81.7 (7th)

* Five games remaining in regular season

Finding their best game

There are differences between the 2017 and 2019 versions of the Preds as well.

On the bright side, this year’s team is stingier. Nashville is ranked fourth in the NHL in goals against average (2.60), fifth in save percentage (.913) and third in high-danger save percentage (.838) with five games left in the regular season.

The 2017 team finished the season 15th in goals against (2.68), 14th in save percentage (.911) and 27th in high-danger percentage (.802).

“I think goaltending is a real position of strength for this team,” NHL Network analyst Kevin Weekes said. “I think they’re in a real good spot there.”

On the dark side, the 2017 team — even though it just squeaked into the playoffs — showed more offensive punch during the regular season.

That version of the Predators featured 12 double-figure goal-scorers (compared to eight so far this year), seven 40-point players (compared to five this year) and finished 11th in the league in goal-scoring at 2.90 per game (compared to 19th this year at 2.86).

The Preds kept right on producing points in the 2017 playoffs, finishing the postseason with the fifth-best goal-scoring average of 16 teams.

A good chunk of the offensive differential between the 2017 and 2019 teams can be attributed to the power play. It wasn’t spectacular in 2017 — finishing in the middle of the pack at 18.9 percent — but it was leaps and bounds ahead of this year’s team, ranked 30th at 12.7 percent.

One other difference worth noting: Even though the 2017 Predators might have struggled the past couple weeks of that season, they still put together a pretty good second half at 23-13-5.

“We finished as the 16th seed, but we never felt like that,” Forsberg said. “We came into the playoffs feeling like we had just as big of a chance to win the Stanley Cup as everybody else.”

This year’s Preds team, despite adding trade-deadline acquisitions Mikael Granlund, Brian Boyle and Wayne Simmonds to the roster, has been inconsistent in the second half of the season. The Preds are 19-13-4 with five games left, and they’ve mustered only two goals in the past three games.

All of which returns us to the question: Does this Predators team have a 2017-esque playoff run in it?

“It’s been the same kind of regular season (as 2017), kind of having ups and downs throughout the year,” Josi said. “We played really well at the right time (in 2017). So I hope there are similarities.

“Every year is a little different, but when you go into the playoffs, you always have to find your best game. That year we definitely did. Hopefully, we can do it this year, too.”

(Top photo: Brace Hemmelgarn / USA Today)