from Adam Vingan at Sportsnet,

In the week leading up to the NHL trade deadline, the Nashville Predators admitted defeat. They shipped out Nino Niederreiter, Tanner Jeannot, Mattias Ekholm and Mikael Granlund for a haul of draft picks and other assets.

On top of that, their four highest-paid players — Roman Josi, Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen and Matt Duchene — have all suffered serious injuries. Frankly, the Predators have no business still being in the Western Conference wild-card race.

And yet here they are, one point behind the Winnipeg Jets ahead of their high-stakes showdown Saturday at Canada Life Centre (Sportsnet West and SN NOW, 6 p.m. CT). The Predators, who are 10-7-2 since the deadline, are coming off wins against the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes, two of the top four teams in the league. How are they doing this?

As has been the case for the past few years, the Predators have been propped up by stellar goaltending. Led by Juuse Saros, Nashville goaltenders have saved 21 goals above expected this season, second only to the Boston Bruins (28.4). Since March 4, that number is 4.85 — third-best behind the Bruins (8.24) and New York Rangers (7.28).

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