This second NHL Saturday miniseries now moves to latter half of the alphabet with the Nashville Predators. In 23 seasons, the Preds have reached the postseason 15 times, and Nashville made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2017, too. That team did not make our Top 5 list, however, but for a team that started out in 1998, the organization has done well for itself: the Predators have made the postseason 15 times in the last 18 seasons, and that’s pretty good overall success.

No. 5: 2005-06 Nashville Predators

A second-place finish in the Central Division based on a 49-25-8 record for 106 points only got Nashville a first-round playoff matchup with the San Jose Sharks and their league MVP. The Preds won the first game before losing the next four straight, including one-goal decisions in Games 4 and 5. But the team finished ninth in the SRS, based on the 10th-best offense and the seventh-rated defense. Tough to complain about a season that good less than a decade after inception.

Left wing Paul Kariya (31G, 54A, 40 PIMs) and right wing Steve Sullivan (31G, 37A, 50 PIMs, 69 games) provided the scoring punch, while goaltenders Tomáš Vokoun (36-18-7) and Chris Mason (12-5-1) combined for six shutouts between them. When Vokoun missed the playoffs due to thrombophlebitis, Mason got all the starts against the Sharks: He played admirably enough, but San Jose just had too much firepower for a backup goalie to contend with on such short notice.

No. 4: 2014-15 Nashville Predators

This team also finished second in the Central Division: 104 points, thanks to a 47-25-10 record. Again, it was bad luck to face the eventual Stanley Cup champions from Chicago in the first round, and Nashville took the Blackhawks to six games before losing—dropping a 2OT Game 1 and a 3OT Game 4 in the process. Game 6 was also a one-goal loss, so it was a very close series. The Predators were eighth in the SRS, overall, thanks to the No. 8 defense and the No. 13 offense.

Nashville did not score a lot: centers Filip Forsberg (26G, 37A) and Mike Ribeiro (15G, 47A) topped the team in points, which is quite revealing. G Pekka Rinne was the best player on the team, putting up a 41-17-6 record, built on a 2.18 GAA, a .923 S%, and 4 SOs. He still managed a .909 S% in the six postseason games, but the timing of the game-winning goals for Chicago was obviously key in the Predators’ defeat. It’s impressive Nashville hung in there all things considered.

No. 3: 2011-12 Nashville Predators

Second place in the Central seemed to belong to the Preds for a long time, as this roster finished 48-26-8 for 104 points to claim that territory again. Eighth in the SRS, Nashville had more balance this time around with the No. 8 offense and the No. 9 defense. That helped them knock off the Detroit Red Wings in 5 games to open up the postseason, but the upstart Phoenix Coyotes took down the Preds in the second round, needing only the same 5 games to do so.

RW Martin Erat led the team with only 58 points (19G, 39A), but seven different players provided at least 43 points, demonstrating quite the scoring distribution across multiple lines. Rinne was again the net stalwart, posting a 43-18-8 record with 5 SOs. To wit, his backup went just 5-8-0 on the season. In the playoffs, Rinne surrendered just 9 goals against powerful Detroit, but in turn, Nashville scored just 9 goals against the Coyotes—and that was all she wrote.

No. 2: 2017-18 Nashville Predators

The franchise won its first division title, finally, with a 53-18-11 record for 117 points—the best regular-season in organizational history. Winning the Central was nice, but the No. 2 finish in the SRS was more impressive. That came via the seventh-best offense and the second-best defense. The Predators beat the Colorado Avalanche in six games to open the playoffs, but they were upset in seven games by the Winnipeg Jets in a crazy second-round postseason series.

Forsberg (28G, 36A, 38 PIMs, 67 games) was the top scoring threat, by far, as six players managed at least 51 points to once again spread the love around the roster. At age 35, Rinne was still dominant, though: 42-13-4 with 8 SOs. His backup, Juuse Saros, was also very effective (11-5-7, 3 SOs). Against Colorado, Rinne won two one-goal contests, which was key, but against the Jets, he was up and down—eventually losing 5-1 in Game 7 at home. That was a huge disappointment.

No. 1: 2006-07 Nashville Predators

This is a big surprise, as the 2007 team finished first in the SRS—and second again in the Central Division! The 110 points from a 51-23-8 record merely got Nashville another first-round matchup with the talented Sharks (SRS No. 2), and the Predators lost in 5 games to put an early end to the best sabermetric season in franchise history. Nashville finished No. 4 in offense and No. 8 in defense, a rare combination for this organization and its philosophy. Sabermetrics can be funny.

Kariya (24G, 52A, 36 PIMs) put up another good season, and the scoring load was distributed nicely among seven players with at least 54 points. Vokoun (27-12-4) and Mason (24-11-4) split time more evenly this season, and they combined for a whopping 10 shutouts. The former got all the playoff starts, and the Sharks only outscored the Preds, 16-14, in the series, but San Jose stole Game 1 on the road with a 2OT win, and then Nashville lost Games 4 and 5 by one goal each. That’ll do.