Looking Back at the Five Best Regular Seasons in Nashville Predators History
By Chad Minton
2018-19 Nashville Predators: 100 PTS, 1st In Central Division
Leader In PTS: Ryan Johansen- 64
Leader in Goals: Viktor Ardvisson- 34
Starting Goalie: Pekka Rinne- 30 Wins, .918 SV%, 2.42 GAA, 4 Shutouts
Backup Goalie: Juuse Saros- 17 Wins, .915 SV%, 2.62 GAA, 3 Shutouts
Following the Presidents Trophy season, the Predators remained a strong regular season team and their Stanley Cup window was still viewed as being open even after a crushing 2nd Round exit to the Winnipeg Jets in seven games.
The Predators were a deep team this year, with 11 players hitting 30 points or more. For comparison, this year's team currently has seven players with 30-plus points, with Ryan McDonagh just needs two more points to be eights player to hit that mark this season.
Johansen piled up the assists this season with 50, which at the time was the third-most for a season in franchise history. It ranks as the sixth-most now.
The goal scoring was also spread out with 26 players scoring at least one goal, with Arvidsson leading the team with 34. Filip Forsberg came right behind that with 28 goals.
This was the second-straight year of the Predators winning the Central Division, and also their second overall in franchise history. They haven't come close to winning the division since then.
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What really carried this team in 2018-19 regular season was stellar goaltending from both Pekka Rinne and the emergence of Juuse Saros as his trustworthy sidekick. Everyone saw the future of the crease was for Saros as Rinne was nearing the end of his illustrious NHL career.
The Predators would rank third in the NHL in goals against per game, allowing only 2.59 per game. They were also excellent on the penalty kill ranking sixth in the NHL at 82.1 percent.
The bad memories of this team reside in the postseason when they fell apart in the first round losing to the Dallas Stars in six games. That doesn't take away that it was one of the best regular season campaigns in team history, making the first round exit all the more painful.