Colton Sissons impressing for Predators in playoffs

NASHVILLE - Colton Sissons has always known what kind of a player he can be in the NHL, but hadn't been able to reach his potential on a consistent basis.
He's reaching that potential for the Nashville Predators so far in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Sissons, who finished the regular season with 10 points (eight goals, two assists) in 58 games, has six points (two goals, four assists) in seven playoff games.

"I've always been kind of a versatile player that can play both ends of the rink," Sissons said. "Obviously exploring a little bit more of the offensive side lately, but I've always been able to play center, play wing, play a defensive role or a little bit more offensive in the minors and in juniors in those type of things. It's been working out lately."

Sissons had two assists in a 3-1 Game 3 win against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday in the Western Conference Second Round. Nashville leads the best-of-7 series 2-1. Game 4 is Tuesday (9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVA Sports).
Predators coach Peter Laviolette knows he can put Sissons on the ice in almost any situation. He's played on different lines throughout the playoffs, and has made a positive impact more often than not.
"He's got a lot of confidence right now," Laviolette said. "He's playing really well. You think about it, we just moved him around the lineup with different players and wherever he seems to go, that line seems to play well. He's playing really strong for us."
It wasn't always a smooth ride for Sissons during the regular season. Although he spent a full season in the NHL for the first time in his career, he found himself out of the lineup as a healthy scratch at times. Sissons missed eight games in February and three games in March.
"I wasn't too happy about sitting out of the lineup for a bunch of games there so that kind of lit a fire under my you know what, if you will," Sissons said. "It kind of fired me up to take my game to the next level, and I'm playing with some confidence now which is nice.
"The moment for me was probably when I was out of the lineup for a while there, and I can back in and had some strong games consecutively. It wasn't like a light went off and it was that moment when I just snapped out of bed, but it was kind of just coming back into the lineup after that tough stretch."

The Predators have had 13 different goal scorers in the playoffs and Sissons has been a key part of their depth. He's tied with P.K. Subban for fourth on the team in scoring during the playoffs with six points.
"[Sissons has] been great," defenseman Roman Josi said. "He's a great two-way player. He's really reliable on defense, always in the right position and great on the penalty kill. He's been great offensively too. We need that depth in the playoffs, and they have done a great job of contributing to the offense too."