Roman Josi arrives at Tuesday night’s Predators Vs Kings matchup one point shy of 800 career NHL points, and the Nashville defenseman could reach the mark against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena. Josi has 799 points in 1,047 games, with 205 goals and 594 assists, heading into the 10 p.m. ET faceoff.
The milestone would be a rare one. Josi can become the first Switzerland-born player to reach 800 NHL points, and only the fifth defenseman born outside North America to get there. He has also been driving Nashville’s surge with 20 points in 17 games this season, including two goals and 18 assists, while averaging 25:30 of ice time.
The timing gives the chase extra weight. The Predators are 8-4-5 and have won four straight, going 6-2-2 in their past 10 games, while the Kings are 5-8-2 and trying to recover from a slow start. Los Angeles will also get Mats Zuccarello back after he missed six games with an upper-body injury, a boost as the club tries to steady itself at home.
Josi has spent all 16 of his NHL seasons in Nashville, so the next point would not just be another number for him. It would put him into a statistical class that includes Nicklas Lidstrom, Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman and Sergei Gonchar, and it would do it on a night when the Predators are carrying the better form into the building. If he does it Tuesday, the chase ends quickly; if he does not, it stays alive for the next game.
