Steven Stamkos will skate into Saturday’s game against the Las Vegas Knights on the verge of a historical hockey moment.

The Predators forward, who is playing his best hockey since signing with the team before the 2024-25 season, needs just one score to become the 22nd player in NHL history to hit 600 career goals.

Stamkos would join Washington’s Alex Ovechkin and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby as the only two active players to reach the 600-goal mark. Ovechkin leads the NHL in career goals with 912, followed by Wayne Gretzky (894) and Gordie Howe (801).

The 35-year-old Stamkos moved to the brink of 600 in classic fashion Monday in Utah, when he scored goal No. 598 and No. 599 in the Preds’ come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the Mammoth. Stamkos’ first score tied the contest in the third period, and his second — coming with just 6:43 left — served as the game-winner.

The victory improved the Preds to 7-3 over their last 10 games and left the team (17-17-4) just three points outside of a Western Conference playoff spot as the midpoint of the season nears.

“This is the time of the year that can really either propel your season or sink you in a hole that is tough to get out of,” Stamkos told reporters afterward. “The way the schedule is right now, being on the road for this many games, we need to collect as many points as possible.”

Things haven’t always gone smoothly for Stamkos since he signed a four-year, $32 million deal with Nashville in July 2024. The 18-year veteran was held to 53 points in his first year with the Preds, Stamkos’ lowest full-season total since his rookie campaign in 2008-09.

But Stamkos, who has 14 points (nine goals, five assists) in his last nine games, is not only scoring at a prolific pace these days.

He’s also producing critical goals.

Stamkos’ second goal against Utah meant he has posted the game-winning score in four consecutive Nashville victories, becoming just the second player in franchise history (along with Mike Fisher in 2012) to do so.

He also scored his sixth game-winning goal since Dec. 1, tying the NHL’s all-time record for most in one month shared by five other players since 1960.

“The fourth one was just a pretty standard dump and chase,” said Stamkos, who has a team-high 17 goals in 38 games this season. “[Teammate Ryan O’Reilly won] a stick battle, which he does so often, and then me just trying to find a quiet area. Heck of a pass. It landed right on my tape and just tried to get it off as quick as possible and hit the five-hole, and obviously a big goal for our group.”

Heading into the Predators’ current six-game road trip, Stamkos had scored at least one goal in every NHL arena except for two — Utah’s and Seattle’s.

With Utah now scratched off his list, Stamkos can take care of business in Seattle on Jan. 1, when the Predators visit the Kraken for a New Year’s Day contest.

“It was nice,” Stamkos said of scoring in Utah. “Think I’ve played [twice] in here, so it was nice to get a couple in a big situation, and to get them to help our team win makes it that much more special.”