Predators prove a point in extending streak to 18 straight games

Maybe the Predators were just looking for a challenge.

Who could blame them at this point?

Heading into Tuesday’s showdown against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Preds hadn’t suffered a regulation loss in over five weeks, winning games by blowout, by shutout and by just about every other way possible.

Maybe the one thing Nashville hadn’t done much of during the team’s franchise-record point streak? Rally.

Incredible as it sounds, the Predators had trailed for a collective only 15:54 over the course of 17 straight games before Tuesday, and for just 5:30 in the third periods of all those contests.

So they had to feel a little shellshocked against the Golden Knights, as Vegas scored twice within the game’s first six minutes en route to taking a 3-0 lead in the first period. Even when the Preds threatened to shift momentum with a goal late in the second period, Vegas snatched it right back, scoring with less than a minute to go to up its advantage to 4-1 after 40 minutes.

This was a Golden Knights team, mind you, that had a 28-2-2 record when leading after two periods this season.

What was the mindset of the Predators in the locker room as they readied themselves for the third period, knowing that in all likelihood the point streak was coming to an end?

“I think we were very positive,” Preds captain Roman Josi said. “We’re at a point now where we can trust our game and we had a chance to come back. It might not always happen, but if we play the way we can play and trust it, we can be in every game.”

Added Nashville coach Andrew Brunette: “I thought this was a great opportunity for our group to grow a little bit, going into the third period. Because there are going to be times you’re down, and let’s just see if we can chip away at it without losing our identity, without getting away from what makes us successful.”

Which is exactly what the Predators did.

Ryan O’Reilly put some heat on the Golden Knights when he scored his 25^th goal of the season less than six minutes into the third, cutting Vegas’ lead to 4-2. Just over six minutes later, the Preds delivered a pair of lightning-fast haymakers, as Filip Forsberg’s 40^th goal and Gustav Nyquist’s 20^th goal — the latter coming on the power play — tied the contest.

“I think it’s just the confidence in our group,” Forsberg said. “[The Golden Knights played Monday], so we just tried to keep working, keep wearing them down … [O’Reilly] got that huge goal for us to start the push, and after that, the building got electric and the rest is history.”

Indeed, it hardly felt shocking when Josi applied the finishing touch 40 seconds into overtime, driving through the crease from right to left and sliding a puck behind Vegas goalie Jiri Patera, a goal that gave the Preds a 5-4 victory and nearly blew the lid off Bridgestone Arena.

The victory marked just the fifth time in franchise history the Preds had engineered a three-goal, third-period comeback win — and the first time Nashville had done so since February 2018.

The Predators (43-25-4) extended that franchise-record point streak to 18 games (16-0-2), a stretch that’s seen Nashville outscore its opponents by an outrageous margin of 74-33. It’s the NHL’s longest point streak since the Colorado Avalanche posted a 19-game point streak during the 2021-22 season.

“Obviously it’s a crazy streak and a lot of good luck in there, too,” O’Reilly said. “But we’ve done a great job of earning it, too. I think when things haven’t gone well, we have stuck with the program, have relied on each other, had different guys step up at different times all through this run.”

Coming from behind was one of the few things the Predators seemingly had left to prove during a run that began on Feb. 17, two days after Nashville’s last regulation loss.

The Preds checked that box on Tuesday.

What’s the next challenge?

This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Post.