Predators vs. Jets Plus/Minus: Nashville Heating Up At Right Time

In arguably their biggest game of the season to date, the Nashville Predators may have turned some doubters into believers as they knocked off the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 Wednesday night at the Canada Life Center.

The Predators extended their point streak to 13 games, and they’re 12-2-2 since the All-Star break. Gustav Nyquist, Kiefer Sherwood, Filip Forsberg and Jason Zucker scored the goals for Nashville, and Juuse Saros out-dueled Connor Hellebuyck with a 27-save performance (.931 save percentage) to earn his seventh win in his last 10 games.

With every game you take the good with the bad, so here’s what went right and what didn’t during the Predators win over Winnipeg on Wednesday.

(+) Jeremy Lauzon, hit-man

With his seven-hit performance Wednesday night, Lauzon overtook Tanner Jeannot for the most single-season hits in franchise history (322). He’s the second player in Predators history and the 27th player overall to reach the 300-hit plateau.

The NHL record (382 by Matt Martin of the New York Islanders in 2014) is well within his sights. Lauzon has to average 4.1 hits per game over the final 15 games to break Martin’s record. His current hit pace is 4.8 per game.

(+) Roman Josi catching fire

Since the All-Star break, Josi has been one of the hottest defensemen in the league. He’s notched five goals and 20 points in 16 games, and his two-assist outing Wednesday night marked the 100th time he recorded multiple assists in a game, including 10 this season. Josi averages a multi-assist performance approximately one out of every 10 games he plays.

Gustav Nyquist makes no mistake off of a gorgeous stretch pass from Roman Josi. 🤩

📺: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/sEijvXhbA1 pic.twitter.com/GzoOIIIuOm

— NHL (@NHL) March 13, 2024

He’s also the fifth active NHL defensemen with 100 or more multi-assist games, and he also became just the second player in franchise history (Paul Kariya was the other) to record multiple seasons with 50 or more assists. Among defensemen, Josi ranks first in shots (214), tied for second in goals (15), third in both points (65) and game-winning goals (3) and fifth in power-play points (26).

(-) Another injured defenseman

Skating in his first NHL game since Dec. 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Spencer Stastney exited the game in the third period after taking a hard hit along the boards from Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov. Stastney seemed to be favoring his shoulder as he was helped to the locker room.

No update has been given yet, and it’s not known how serious his potential injury is. The Predators were already down a defenseman with Dante Fabbro out 2-3 weeks with an upper-body injury. If Stastney misses any time, Marc Del Gaizo would likely be the next Milwaukee Admirals defenseman called up.

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