from Zach Gilcriest of the Predators website,
History has been made.
Kevin Lankinen earned his first shutout in Gold and Filip Forsberg scored twice as the Nashville Predators defeated the Florida Panthers, 3-0, to establish a franchise record 16-game point streak (14-0-2) on Thursday at Amerant Bank Arena.
“It was a great effort from the whole team,” Lankinen said. “[Florida] is one of the best teams in the League right now and we went head-to-head and out-battled and out-played them. That shows a lot of character, shows what kind of team we are. It's just so much fun to be a part of this and I’m really proud of the guys.”
“I think for our group, for [Lankinen] to come in and play as he did, and everybody, it's next man up and we're happy for the group,” Predators Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “We played probably the best team in the League tonight and I thought we played our game, we stayed true to us, and again, we're building for this kind of success as we go forward.”
The result bolstered Nashville’s first Wild Card position and moved the team to 41-25-4 on the season and 22-10-3 on the road.
With a 5-10-0 record to begin their season, few could have predicted the heater the Predators would ultimately be on at this time of year. Even fewer could have predicted a franchise record-breaking 16-game point streak.
And yet, the Predators have done it.
“We’ve kind of found our identity and we’re enjoying what we bring every night,” Brunette said. “And when you have joy in what you're doing, if you enjoy the work, enjoy the grind, that usually puts you in a pretty good spot. So, it's been a heck of a run. We’ll enjoy this, and then we’ve got to go back to work on Saturday.”