Mark this past week as an important week in the final stretch of the regular season for the Nashville Predators.
Going through California with two games against the dregs of the Western Conference, followed by a Stanley Cup contender in San Jose, getting four out of six points was the most realistic goal.
And they got there. Though it was a different route to those four points than most would have predicted, it might actually have been the more satisfying result.
Despite trailing Winnipeg by one point with the Jets having two games in hand entering arguably the most difficult stretch of games in the second half of the season, there is still some optimism that a Central Division title is within reach.