Three things that worked for Nashville Predators in upset victory over Jets

With a long climb back up the standings ahead needed, the Nashville Predators took the first massive step towards that by defeating the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets in front of the home crowd on Saturday night.

After 20 games the Predators were riding a 6-11-3 record, their second-worst 20-game start in franchise history. The only worse start was in 2002-03 when ties were still a thing.

So what are we to make of this surprising 4-1 win for the Predators over the Jets, a team that won 14 of its 15 games? Two teams that have been polar opposites so far.

Here's what worked for the Predators to beat the Jets, and at least for now, move ahead of the Chicago Blackawks out of last place in the Central Division.

Timely penalty kills

It is wild to me that the Predators are where they are in the standings despite having the NHL's best penalty kill. It's the one thing you can bet your bank account on that the Predators will succeed in this season. Well, I wouldn't go quite that far, but you catch what I'm putting down.

The Jets came into the game with the NHL's best power play, so you wondered if this would be the game where the penalty kill gets exposed. To the contrary, the Predators penalty kill goes 3 for 3. They did so by a combination of Juuse Saros doing Juuse Saros things, and the penalty killers disrupting passing and shooting lanes.

The Predators penalty kill is now up to a 91.7 percent success rate. That's three percentage points ahead of the 2nd-place New York Rangers. That is an insane gap between No.1 and No.2 teams.

To put it into even more perspective for how dominant the Predators penalty kill has been, that's just six power play goals allowed in 72 times of being shorthanded. Imagine how much worse the Predators would be if they didn't have at least this huge strength to their advantage?

The biggest penalty kill of the game came very early on when the Predators took a too many men on the ice penalty. The complexion of this game would have changed drastically if the Predators fall behind 1-0 early on after an inexcusable bench minor. But they rose to the occassion to keep the Jets scoreless until the offense could break through later in the first period.

Saros is rounding into Vezina Trophy form

Overshadowed by Nashville's really bad start as a team is Saros being locked into Vezina Trophy form. He didn't have to make the high quantity of saves in this one, but the quality was certainly up there.

Saros finishes with a 1.25 Goals Saved Above Expected against Jets. He has now surged to fourth in the NHL overall in Goals Saved Above Expected according to MoneyPuck.

I've been beating the drum on this for weeks now; Saros is doing everything he can to hold the fort together long enough for the rest of the team to start playing to their full capabilities. He can only do so much, and obviously can't score goals for them, but he is at least keeping each game close enough for the Predators to win each night. That's ultimately what you ask for from your goalie, and Saros is doing that even in the losses.

As long as Saros stays in this beast mode type of form, the Predators' grim hopes of hitting a hot streak similar to last season will remain alive.

The new guys showed up, as did the Captain

The dark cloud over the Predators being the biggest disappointment of the NHL so far is the free agent acquisitions from this summer, in particular Jonathan Marchessault.

Coming into the Jets game, Marchessault had zero 5-on-5 goals on the season. He was the only qualified forward with at least 200 minutes played to not have a single 5-on-5 goal. He finally breaks that curse against the Jets, bringing his season total in goals to four.

Marchessault was bumped down to third line duties for this one, which has been hinted would happen to some of the underperforming veterans. Luke Evangelista got his spot on the right wing, with the NHL rookie debut of Fedor Svechkov at center and Steven Stamkos at left wing.

What a Frankenstein second line that is, but hey it worked. Question is will Brunette stick with it or change things up again for the Devils?

Speaking of Stamkos, a strong game from him as well with another power play goal. He has six now on the season, which leads the team. Of course out of all of the things that have gone wrong, at least Stamkos is potting power play goals like we expected. It just took some time.

Brady Skjei also got in on the offense with an assist, and Roman Josi blasted his third goal of the season to get the scoring going. He scorched it though layers of traffic in front of the net, making for a near impossible save for any goalie to make.

Overall I thought the Predators played aggressive on the puck, pushed the tempo from the opening puck drop to the end, and you saw that desperation as if it was an elimination game.

It's not ideal that you already feel this desperation and we're not even out of November yet, but that's what the Predators are going to be up against the rest of the season if they're somehow going to rally for the playoffs.

Next up in this brutal six-game stretch of top tier teams is the first place New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference. So one night the Predators take on the top team in the West, now it's the top team in the East.

If you want to change the outlook of the season from grim to hopeful, then you need a winning streak in the worst way right now. And a long one. You'll have to do it against some Stanley Cup caliber teams.