Secondary Scoring Powers Predators Six-Game Win Streak

The Nashville Predators are getting scoring contributions throughout the lineup, leading to positive results.

Jayden Struble celebrates after scoring his third goal of the year. | @PredsNHL

NASHVILLE — The Nashville Predators have the longest winning streak in the NHL after securing a 4-2 victory on Wednesday against the Anaheim Ducks.

The Predators are now 10-4-5 with 25 points and in second place in the Central Division. Veteran leaders Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, Steven Stamkos, and Ryan O'Reilly are shouldering the load with 22, 22, 20, and 17 points, respectively, through the first 19 games, but it's the secondary scoring that's allowed Nashville to take the next step and find positive results as November nears the halfway mark.

14 of Nashville's 21 goals scored during the six-game win streak have come from players other than Forsberg, Josi, Stamkos, or O'Reilly, with five coming from defensemen, as role players step up, propelling the Predators to victories.

They stepped up again on Wednesday as Jayden Struble, Shane Wright, and Nils Höglander all scored against the Anaheim Ducks, with Höglander's second-period between-the-legs-effort stealing the show by putting Nashville ahead 2-1.

"Yeah, you're kinda thinking, 'What? What's he doing?'" Andrew Brunette said. "And then it went in. It was a big goal for us. Their line was exceptional tonight."

All three goals came at big times on Wednesday as Struble tied the game at 1-1, 21 seconds after the Predators fell behind on Anaheim's Cutter Gauthier's goal. Höglander put the Predators ahead, and Wright's first goal in a Predators uniform put Nashville ahead 3-1 against one of the NHL's best offenses.

Everyone knows Forsberg, Stamkos, Josi, and O'Reilly are offensive threats, and the group accounts for 27 of Nashville's 58 goals, but contributions from unexpected areas of the lineup have made the Predators the hottest team in the league. Nashville rides this hot streak into fourth place in the Western Conference and ninth in the entire NHL.

Nashville Secondary Scoresheet During Six-Game Win Streak

• Ross Colton, 3 goals, 4 points
• Nils Höglander, 1 goal, 4 points
• Nick Perbix, 2 goals, 4 points
• Jayden Struble, 2 goals, 3 points
• Shane Wright, 1 goal, 3 points
• Brady Skjei, 3 points
• Adam Edström, 2 goals
• Reid Schaefer, 1 goal, 2 points
• Adam Wilsby, 1 goal, 2 points
• Jack Drury, 2 points
• Vitali Pinchuk, 1 goal
• Alexander Kerfoot, 1 point

The numbers show how this streak has been built. 14 of Nashville’s 21 goals during the six straight wins have come from outside its top four scorers, and five of those came off the sticks of defensemen. Ross Colton has three goals, Nick Perbix, Jayden Struble and Adam Edström each have two, and Vitali Pinchuk and Reid Schaefer have chipped in, too. Opponents can game-plan around Forsberg, Josi, Stamkos, and O’Reilly. They can’t plan for a fourth-liner or a third-pairing defenseman finding the net on any given night.

That depth is what separates a hot streak from a sustainable run, and it will be tested quickly. The Predators head to Vegas on Friday for the third stop of a five-game West Coast swing, with a chance to extend the NHL’s longest active winning streak against one of the Western Conference’s best teams. Nashville’s stars will keep drawing attention, but over the last six games, the depth players have been the ones making the difference. Keep this up, and the question stops being whether the Predators can sustain this run and becomes who’s going to stop it.

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