UPDATE (6/11): Despite concerns over his health and a lack of any information at all leading up to the game, Ryan Ellis will indeed play in Game Six in Nashville. Not only will he play, but Ellis is expected to start the game and skate with pair mate Roman Josi. Ellis skated alone earlier this morning, but skipped the Predators’ voluntary team skate this afternoon, but was out on the ice for warm-ups looking ready to go. It’s doubtful that Ellis will be playing at full strength, but with the Stanley Cup on the line, Nashville wouldn’t want anyone else taking his place.
6/10: The Nashville Predators face playoff elimination for the first time in 2017 when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Six of the Stanley Cup final tomorrow night. Thursday night’s 6-0 Game Five blowout put the Predators’ Stanley Cup hopes in doubt, after miraculously sweeping the Chicago Blackhawks and defeating the St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks each in six games as the #8 seed out west. Now, they face a do or die scenario with the franchise’s first title on the line.
Unfortunately, they may have to play the most important game of the season (and in team history to date) without talented defenseman Ryan Ellis. While his absence has not been confirmed, the team has been tight-lipped about his availability over the past few days. Ellis sustained an undisclosed injury in Game Five that caused him to leave the game, missing most of the second and all of the third periods. Coach Peter Laviolette nor any other Nashville representative has commented on the nature and severity of Ellis’ injury to this point, but he did not skate at the Predator’s optional practice today. “For what it’s worth”, TSN’s Darren Dreger spotted Ellis leaving the Nashville locker room following Game Five and did not notice any obvious ailment. As of now, that is the only piece of evidence available about Ellis’ status heading into game day tomorrow.
Should Ellis miss the game, the Predators would be dealt a major blow. No team in the NHL operates through their blue line to the extent that Nashville does and losing one of their “big four” at this point in the season could be disastrous. Ellis most often skates alongside Roman Josi, who would have skate alongside Yannick Weber as his right-side partner and the pairing of P.K. Subban and Mattias Ekholm would have the pressure of being a true first pair rather than Nashville’s 1A-1B dynamic. The Predators would also have to bring a cold defenseman into the mix, as all six starters have played in each of the team’s 21 playoff games so far. Anthony Bitetto would likely get the call to man the bottom pair with Matt Irwin, and did skate in 29 games this season, but hasn’t played since April 8th.
More than anything, the Predators would simply miss Ellis’ production should he be sidelined by injury. The quick-skating 26-year-old scored 16 goals and added 22 assists in 71 regular season games in 2016-17, but has been even more effective in the postseason. Through 21 playoff games, Ellis has five goals and eight assists for 13 points, behind only Josi and Filip Forsberg. Ellis has been playing especially confident on the power play this postseason, and the Predators need that clutch factor if they want to capitalize on any Penguin mistakes. Hopefully, what could be the final game of the season or at least the second-to-last match-up of a highly entertaining postseason, will not be cheapened by a key piece missing out due to injury. Stay tuned for any updates on Ellis ahead of the 7:00 pm CT puck drop tomorrow night.