Each week, theScore looks at the teams, players, and other hockey figures trending upward and taking a step back.

▲ Nashville Predators

People like the Predators. Sweeping the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round will do that.

But it's not only in Nashville, where the team is setting local television ratings; the Predators are drawing eyeballs on the national level as well.

Bridgestone Arena has also been bumping on game nights, with an atmosphere that undeniably stacks up against any market around the NHL.

One win away from advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history, the rise of the Predators might only just be starting.

▼ Mike Milbury

Speaking of the Predators, NBC analyst Mike Milbury recently came under fire for comments made about defensemsan P.K. Subban prior to Game 2 against the St. Louis Blues.

As a refresher, here's what Milbury had to say after Subban was seen dancing on the ice during warmups, per Joe Rexrode of The Tennessean:

When I see this I start to think maybe (Predators coach) Peter Laviolette ought to give him a rap on the head and say, 'Hey, P.K., we've got a game tonight, focus in. You don't need to be a clown out there. And he will. He's been a clown in the past, and we've seen him act like a clown. When he's serious and focused, he's one hell of a player.

Milbury later said he regretted saying using "rap on the head" and "clown," but still questioned whether Subban was acting as a distraction to his teammates.

The short answer is apparently not.

The Predators have posted a record of 7-1 so far this postseason, and Subban has contributed one goal, five assists, 17 shots, and (for old-school analysts who still care about the stat) a plus-7 rating.

As mentioned above, Nashville is one of the hottest hockey markets the NHL has going these days, and Subban represents all that is fun and good about the game in 2017.

His game and personality should be celebrated and embraced, not questioned and suppressed.

▲ Mika Zibanejad

Many were left scratching their heads when the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers pulled off a trade that saw Mika Zibanejad and Derick Brassard (along with draft picks) switch teams last summer.

It's not that Ottawa wasn't receiving a good player in Brassard, but more the five-year age gap that exists between the two players, and the fact Zibanejad was much further away from reaching his ceiling.

As fate would have it, the two clubs are embroiled in a second-round playoff series less than a year later, with both Brassard (two goals, six assists) and Zibanejad (one goal, six assists) leading their new teams in playoff points.

It's Zibanejad, however, who's making a bigger mark on the current matchup, having registered three assists in three games against the Senators, while also averaging four shots a game on Senators goalie Craig Anderson. Brassard, meanwhile, has been kept off the scoresheet for Ottawa, with zero points on his old mates.

Whichever team comes out on top in this series, the Rangers have to be excited about what they're seeing from Zibanejad on the big stage.

▼ Washington Capitals

Here we go again.

Following a Game 4 loss on Wednesday, the Washington Capitals find themselves on the brink of being eliminated at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round for the second year in a row.

And this after finishing atop the NHL regular-season standings for the second straight season.

On top of that, defenseman Matt Niskanen is rightfully feeling the heat for a hit to the head that left Sidney Crosby sidelined with a concussion for the second time this season.

As a result, the Capitals' latest apparent shortcomings aren't drawing much sympathy around the hockey world.

Where they go from here is anyone's guess.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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