Stamkos, Preds Achieve New Milestones as Season Begins

The Predators didn’t end up on the right side of the scoresheet Tuesday night in Toronto - an overtime thriller that left them disappointed with the final result. 

Just three games into the season, the missteps - as Steven Stamkos and Andrew Brunette said postgame - are correctable, and that’s what the Preds were focused on during Wednesday's practice outside of Montreal ahead of a date with the Canadiens on Thursday. 

But perhaps lost a bit in the final result was the fact that Predators players were rattling off milestones with ease during almost every one of the four goals they tallied on Tuesday. Before those moments are forgotten with the passing of time, they’re worth recognizing once more. 

There was Filip Forsberg’s 400th career assist on a play that was finished off by Nils Hoglander for his second goal of the night. 

An assist from Ryan O’Reilly gave him his 900th career point as he became just the third player from the 2009 NHL Draft to reach the mark, following John Tavares (1,188) and Matt Duchene (936).


And then there was Stamkos.

After tying the mark with his first goal of the season on Saturday, the future Hall-of-Famer passed Joe Sakic - one of his idols - and Jarome Iginla as he opened the scoring with his 626th career goal for sole possession of 17th place on the NHL’s all-time goals list. 

Stamkos is also well within reach of solidifying himself in the Top 5 of all-time power-play goals scored. 

Two of his three tallies this season have come on the man advantage, and he’s now just two away from tying Phil Esposito (246) for sixth on the list, and three away from Luc Robataille (247) for a fifth-place tie. 

There was a point last season when Stamkos was seemingly achieving one of those milestones every night. With three goals in three games this time around, he’s on his way to doing the same once again. 

“It's cool when you hear those names,” Stamkos said following Saturday’s game. “Those are guys that certainly, as a Canadian kid growing up, watching those guys play… I wore 19 as a kid because of Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman. Never in your wildest dreams do you think you're going to be sitting here and tied with them for goals. But at the same time, you just go with the flow, right? I do anything I can to continue to try to score goals and help our team win, and it's just neat to hear some of the names.”

“It’s so incredible,” O’Reilly said Wednesday of Stamkos. “For being around the same age as him growing up, Sakic and Iginla are like our heroes, and for him to pass them, it's unfathomable. But the way he is, the way he works, his intelligence, it's like the puck always seems to find him. Getting to play with him on the line, he somehow is always in the scoring area, and if you just get it to him, he's going to put it in the net. He’s so fun to play with, and as a leader, a guy you can always just rely on. He’s just such an incredible player, and it's just so cool to see him keep climbing this. It’s like every day he's passing someone new, and it’s just so impressive to see.”

Yes, in this business, winning is most important. But the result at the end of the night shouldn’t diminish numbers that are still worth recognizing. 

The Preds are hopeful to do both moving forward. 

“I think we get wrapped up in the game and you're trying to win and everything like that, but then you see him pass someone and you see these names that he's passing - these are the legends of the game, the guys we all grew up watching and idolized,” O’Reilly said. “But it’s so deserved. I’ve had so many years of being on the opposite end of it, and him scoring on me and eating minuses, and to be on the other side of it is much more fun. He’s obviously a Hall-of-Famer and one of the best to ever do it, and it’s so much fun.”