For the first time since October 26, and only the second time all season, the Nashville Predators have built a three-game winning streak after their emotionally charged win over the Minnesota Wild.
Everyone knew going in that this game was going to get feisty, and it only took a little over a minute into the game for Zachary L'Heureux and Yakov Trenin to drop the gloves. Luke Schenn and Marcus Foligno would drop the gloves right after, and the Predators would also surrender the game's first goal.
Everything was lining up for the Predators to not be ready to deal with this kind of chaos against a team near the top of the standings, but instead this ravaged team showed intestinal fortitude to get perhaps their best win of the season.
It's still a massive climb back up the standings to try to make an epic miracle run, but let's focus on three things that should still give you hope for the Nashville Predators.
The superstars are starting to gel
Filip Forsberg is back to doing Filip Forsberg things. He's now riding a five-game goal streak after going on a career-long 18-game goal drought. He's scoring goals in creative fashion, like his one-armed goal against the Wild on Saturday night.
Steven Stamkos continues to look much more comfortable running the top line center role while also meshing well with Forsberg. The two connected on a beautiful saucer pass from Forsberg that led to Stamkos' 16th goal of the season.
Jonathan Marchessault has been on a heater for over a month now, and the Predators finally can say they have a productive top line after being in scramble mode for the top part of their lineup for a good chunk of the season to open, hence why they got off to such a horrendous start.
It's unfortunate that this didn't come much sooner, but you have to put the past behind you and focus on what you can control. If this chemistry keeps building, the Predators should have a much more successful second half of the season and at the very least, be some major spoilers down the stretch.
A lot of folks probably still want Head Coach Andrew Brunette ousted, but I must say that the way this team isn't packing in the season despite how bad it started shows that maybe Brunette hasn't lost the locker room after all.
Amazing how winning really does cure all, doesn't it? Especially when you're beating high quality teams like the Wild in an emotionally charged atmosphere. The fans deserve a lot of praise for being that loud and still showing up in full support.
Preds have the easiest remaining schedule
The Predators have a home and home matchup with the San Jose Sharks up next, and while I don't think the Sharks are the same pushovers that they've been in the past, I do like the Predators' chance of stretching this win streak to five games if they play like they did against the Wild on Saturday.
However, if the Predators sleep walk for much of the game like they did against the Blackhawks which required a win in the shootout, then I can see the Sharks beating them. You have to treat every game like it's an elimination game at this point. That's the mindset required for the Predators, who put themselves against the wall so early.
According to Tankathon's strength of schedule remaining for NHL teams, the Predators have the easiest of all teams. The Predators have three against the Sharks, two against the Blackhawks, two against the Sabres and two against the Islanders.
Of course you can never take any opponent for granted, but if the Predators truly are turning a corner and rounding into their best hockey yet to come, then they should be able to start piling up some points. I'm sure that's to the chagrin of the large portion of fans who want the Predators to lose as much as possible to get a top-5 draft pick, but we know they're not going to tank on purpose.
Go ahead and prepare yourself accordingly; if the Predators figure out a way to win somewhere around 12 of their next 15, then General Manager Barry Trotz is going to suddenly become a buyer at the trade deadline again. A lot to be sorted out with the schedule lightening up a bit.
And it's not as if the Predators have already beaten up on weak opponents lately. Aside from the win over the Blackhawks. the Predators have some impressive wins as of late. The Wild their most recent, but also beating the Golden Knights in January, and wins in December over the Hurricanes, Kings and Stars.
Future looks bright with young talent in prospect pool
If all else fails and the Predators don't go on some magical run similar to what they did last year, then we've got a prospect pool that's buzzing with talent. One that you can argue is top-10 in the league among prospect farm systems.
The Predators need to keep letting these prospects get this vital NHL experience and let the chips fall where they may. Just look at Fedor Svechkov. He's improving each game he plays, and I don't see a reason to yank him out of the starting lineup for the rest of the season. Leave him in the NHL and watch his confidence keep growing.
Same goes for Zachary L'Heureux. I thought he handled the adversity against the Wild pretty well. He didn't back down to Trenin, which as we all know is a tough customer. Trenin roughed up L'Heureux pretty bad, but it's behind us now and L'Heureux got his first taste of the unwritten rules of the NHL. It's be beneficial for him down the road learning form this experience.
Adam Wilsby on defense is another prospect that should stick around for the remainder of the season on the NHL level. He's loaded with top-four potential for years to come with the Predators.
Justus Annunen has come in to be an outstanding quality backup to Juuse Saros to the degree that he deserves starts outside of just back-to-back scenarios. A luxury to have for an NHL team to have not one, but two trustworthy goalies that gives you a chance to win almost every night out.
And when you look at the prospects yet to be called up, you can't help but be highly optimistic about those guys too. The Milwaukee Admirals have been ravaged by call-ups to the NHL and injuries of their own, but you look at buzzing prospects such as Joakim Kemell, Ozzy Wiesblatt, Ryan Ufko and Reid Schaefer and it makes for a bright future of the organization.
Then you have all of the draft picks the Predators possess in the next two drafts and it leaves you plenty of ammunition to keep stocking up the prospect pool, and also some bargaining chips to pull off a big trade.
I'm not very confident that the Predators will be able to make up enough ground to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which will of course be a massive failure to what the preseason expectations were. But we have to turn the page and realize that 2025-26 the Predators can be right back in the mix if Barry Trotz plays his cards right.