By the Numbers: Predators' 17-Game Point Streak

The Nashville Predators have put the entire NHL on notice.

They haven't lost a game in regulation since Feb. 15, when they suffered a 9-2 rout at the hands of the Dallas Stars. In 17 games since then, they have gone 15-0-2, setting a franchise record and establishing the longest point streak in the NHL this season.

While numbers don't always tell the whole story, they can certainly shed some light on Nashville's recent success. Since Feb. 16 , the Predators are tied for 1st in the NHL in first-period goals (20); 2nd in goals per game (4.06); 3rd in 5-on-5 goals (69); 4th in shots per game (33.4); tied for 4th in face-off win percentage (53.7%); 5th in takeaways (149); and tied for 9th in power-play goals (11).

The Predators have scored first in 15 of 17 games during the streak, and they have only trailed for 16 total minutes over that stretch. Perhaps their greatest strength, however, has been their ability to close out games.

“We kill other team’s will in the third period by the way we play,” forward Michael McCarron said after the team’s 8-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on March 19. “Just over and over and over, do the right things, and as a result, you can see in the third periods, team are getting tired and they don’t want to keep going back for pucks. So, we’re relentless on it, and it feels good when we’re relentless because we usually come out on top.”

Though they’ve been tied five times, the Predators are the only team in the NHL that hasn't trailed at the start of the third period during their 17-game point streak. In that time, they’ve racked up an NHL-high 12 wins when leading after two periods.

“You talk about the word relentless, I think that’s what our third periods are starting to look like,” Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said. “We’re on top of (our opponents), there’s not a lot of space, we’re not sitting back. I think early in the year we were probably in between a little bit. We lacked confidence closing out games. Through this stretch, we’re gaining experience, we’re gaining maturity and we’re understanding certain situations.”

Through the first 54 games of the season, the Predators had scored the seventh-fewest third-period goals (48) in the NHL and allowed the 12th-most (58). But over their last 17 games, they lead the league with 34 third-period goals scored and they’ve allowed the fourth-fewest (12).

“I think coaching and going through [a rough patch made us better],” McCarron added. “When you lose games in the third period, it really hurts. You can’t sleep at night, it’s not great. We went through a lot of that early on and luckily we were able to learn from it. The way we play, we’ve learned that if you continue to do the right things throughout the course of the game, it eventually helps you in the third period. We’re not sitting back anymore, we’re trying to stay on offense and keep pushing. I think that’s what’s led to our success.”