So these Nashville Predators aren’t done? Heck, they may just be getting started.

Evidently, all it took was a little reverse psychology to unlock the offensive talent and collective level of hockey that’s been so often discussed – yet rarely witnessed – since the Predators’ spending spree of the 2024 offseason.

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The only consistent thing on the ice about these Predators, and it has been this way with them for years, has been their stubborn unwillingness to do what’s expected of them.

Soon as departing general manager Barry Trotz raised expectations by adding all that veteran talent in the summer of 2024, the bubble burst with one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

Yet the next season, soon after Trotz moves players at the trade deadline, raising a traditional, front-office white flag, the Predators suddenly catch fire. They start beating the stuffing out of respectable teams in important games with the playoffs on the line.

The Predators’ 6-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks at Bridgestone Arena on March 24 might’ve been their most extraordinary yet this season, considering the who, when and – most notably – the how.

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Nashville Predators, Steven Stamkos battle San Jose Sharks in chase for wild card

Nashville Predators right wing Matthew Wood (71) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

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Nashville Predators, Steven Stamkos battle San Jose Sharks in chase for wild card

Nashville Predators right wing Matthew Wood (71) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

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Nashville Predators, Steven Stamkos battle San Jose Sharks in chase for wild card

Nashville Predators right wing Matthew Wood (71) shoots the puck, scoring a goal against the San Jose Sharks, during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

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Nashville Predators, Steven Stamkos battle San Jose Sharks in chase for wild card

Nashville Predators right wing Matthew Wood (71) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

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Nashville Predators, Steven Stamkos battle San Jose Sharks in chase for wild card

Nashville Predators right wing Matthew Wood (71) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

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Nashville Predators, Steven Stamkos battle San Jose Sharks in chase for wild card

Nashville Predators right wing Luke Evangelista (77) scores a goal past San Jose Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (33) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

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Nashville Predators, Steven Stamkos battle San Jose Sharks in chase for wild card

Nashville Predators defenseman Brady Skjei (76) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks with center Ryan O’Reilly (90) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

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Nashville Predators, Steven Stamkos battle San Jose Sharks in chase for wild card

Nashville Predators center Ryan O’Reilly (90) battlesSan Jose Sharks right wing Adam Gaudette (81) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

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Nashville Predators, Steven Stamkos battle San Jose Sharks in chase for wild card

Nashville Predators right wing Luke Evangelista (77) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

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Nashville Predators, Steven Stamkos battle San Jose Sharks in chase for wild card

Nashville Predators center Ryan O’Reilly (90) battles San Jose Sharks left wing Igor Chernyshov (92) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

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Nashville Predators, Steven Stamkos battle San Jose Sharks in chase for wild card

Nashville Predators right wing Luke Evangelista (77) celebrates his goal next to San Jose Sharks defenseman John Klingberg (3) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

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Nashville Predators, Steven Stamkos battle San Jose Sharks in chase for wild card

Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi (59) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

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Nashville Predators, Steven Stamkos battle San Jose Sharks in chase for wild card

Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi (59) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

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Nashville Predators, Steven Stamkos battle San Jose Sharks in chase for wild card

Nashville Predators left wing Filip Forsberg (9) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks with center Fedor Svechkov (40) during the first period at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

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Nashville Predators, Steven Stamkos battle San Jose Sharks in chase for wild card

A catfish is removed from the ice before a game between the Nashville Predators and the San Jose Sharks at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

Beating San Jose made five wins in row, continuing the season’s longest win streak. But it was more the way this win happened. For once, it felt easy for the Predators. Chronically slow starters this season, they overwhelmed the Sharks right away, scoring five first-period goals on their first seven shots.

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For many teams, a 5-1 lead at the first intermission wouldn’t be too eye-opening. But the Predators? In 70 previous games this season, they’d surpassed four goals only 11 times.

It was the first time since 2009 that a Predators team had scored five goals in the first period, per the Tennessean’s Alex Daugherty. It was a group effort. It was the old guys. Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi and Brady Skjei scored. It was also the youngsters. Matthew Wood and Luke Evangelista did, too.

While the Predators have been in contention for a wild card playoff spot for a while, they now are genuinely beginning to resemble a playoff team. Surprisingly, they’ve taken at least a point from seven of their nine games since March 6, which was the NHL trade deadline.

Leading into that deadline, departing Trotz did what he’s done for much of his tenure in the job: A little bit of everything – yet somehow not enough of any one thing.

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Trotz could’ve sat tight at the deadline. That’s what his players wanted. But he didn’t. He thinned the roster by moving defenseman Nick Blankenburg and forward Michael Bunting and identity players like Michael McCarron and Cole Smith, all just to throw a few more draft picks onto the franchise’s stockpile.

Conversely, however, Trotz stopped shy of jumping in with both feet once he started selling. He didn’t move a top player who could’ve netted a major haul in return.

So you had a team that was clearly weakened after the trade deadline, yet still paying lip service to this idea of a playoff run they appeared to be giving up – well, sort of giving up – on achieving.

Not so much, it turns out. The Predators’ ceiling is beginning to expand, not shrink. If they stay hot and manage to make the playoffs, and especially if they can earn the first wild card spot instead of the second, they might have a shot to do some unforeseen damage.

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Their special teams aren’t bad. Entering the NHL’s games on March 24, the Predators had a top-10 power play and a top-11 penalty kill. Top offensive players, like Forsberg and Steven Stamkos, are getting going at the right time. Their goaltenders – plural – have also been playing well, with backup Justus Annunen beginning to push Juuse Saros.

The Predators’ young talent is coming along, and don’t forget the proven playoff difference-makers still around. Guys like Stamkos and Ryan O’Reilly. Like the captain, Josi, and Jonathan Marchessault, these mid-30s Preds figure to be motivated by the idea of this maybe being the last good postseason opportunity of distinguished careers.

Soon as you dwell on all that, of course, the Sharks have cut a 6-1 deficit down to 6-3 in the third period and the home team is hanging on for a bit. Nothing too dangerous. Just a brief reminder of limitations long understood about these Predators.

Because 71 games have been enough to learn that this is a gritty team, not a flashy one. The Predators have done this the hard way. They’ve had to work hard for the modest success they’ve managed through a season’s worth of tight, low-scoring games.

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That’s the glass-half-empty view as it pertains to a possible playoff series, and it’s well-established.

The glass-half-full perspective, though, is just now coming into focus.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: The Nashville Predators’ playoff hopes aren’t dead after all