Predators just 1 NHL team winning thanks to their Swedes
NASHVILLE — Filip Forsberg is having quite the spring for the Nashville Predators, setting franchise records with his eight goals and 15 points. He’s tied the team mark with at least a point in seven straight games.
Pontus Aberg scored the game-winning goal to put Nashville up 3-2 in the Western Conference finals, while defenceman Mattias Ekholm, has been smothering top lines all post-season. Viktor Arvidsson has 10 points, and his plus-13 rating ties him with Anaheim’s Rickard Rakell for second-best this post-season — behind Forsberg (plus-17).
All five of these players are Swedish. It has been a sweet post-season for players from a nation whose players once were derided for being soft and not able to handle the rigours of the NHL. In all, general manager David Poile has six Swedes on Nashville’s playoff roster as the Predators reached the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in their 19-year history.
“I must admit we haven’t gone out of the way necessarily to get them to this point, but I’m thinking maybe we should,” Poile said. “They’ve certainly been key parts of our team.”