Nashville Predators fans can let out a collective sigh of relief based on comments Barry Trotz made to the Tennessean's Bryan Mullen after practice this afternoon:

"I would say we would pro­bably keep him out of (Saturday's) game," Trotz said, refe­rring to the regu­lar sea­son finale against St. Louis. "The early pre­li­mi­nary infor­ma­tion, without get­ting too spe­ci­fic, I think we expect him to be ready for game one."

Nobody wants to see a repeat of previous seasons, which have been marred by late-season injuries which have undermined Nashville's playoff hopes. No matter which opponent the Preds meet in the 1st round, Patric Hornqvist will be a huge factor.

And I promise to save the "how many goals might he score" articles until the off-season next time, to avoid jinxing anybody!