If not for midseason injuries, he would have easily exceeded the current standard for goals in a season

There will always be an element of what could have been for Viktor Arvidsson this season.

Nonetheless, it will still ranks as one of the best offensive seasons in Nashville Predators’ history.

Arvidsson joined Filip Forsberg as the only players in franchise history to score 30 or more goals multiple times when he notched two in a 4-2 victory Saturday at San Jose. That gave him a team-leading 31 goals, the same number he had in 2016-17 when he and Forsberg became the second set of Predators’ teammates to score 30 or more in the same season, despite the fact that he has appeared in just 49 contests.

With nine games remaining, Arvidsson is two shy of the franchise record currently shared by Forsberg and Jason Arnott.

"It's ridiculous," center Ryan Johansen said, according to The Associated Press. "It's too bad for him having that injury in the middle of the year because he could be doing something really special that not a lot of players in this league can achieve. ... He just goes out there and works his butt off and gives you everything he has. We're really lucky to have him in our group."

A rundown of the Nashville Predators’ single-season goal leaders:

Player, season

Goals

Games

Jason Arnott, 2008-09

33

65

Filip Forsberg, 2015-16

33 82

Viktor Arvidsson, 2018-19

31

49-x

Filip Forsberg, 2016-17

31

82

Viktor Arvidsson, 2016-17

31

80

James Neal 2015-16

31

82

Steve Sullivan, 2005-06

31

69

Paul Kariya, 2005-06

31

82

Patric Hornqvist, 2009-10

30

80



Arvidsson missed 29 games with injuries during November and December. He sat out a week and a half with a lower body injury, returned for one game and then sustained a broken thumb that kept him sidelined another seven weeks.

He is second in the NHL to Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin with an average of 0.63 goals per game, which translates to 51 goals over a full 82-game season. At that pace, Arvidsson will score five more times before the end of the regular season, which will easily give him the franchise record.

"It's a crazy year," Arvidsson said via NHL.com. "An injury and stuff like that. I think I started good and got going pretty good at the beginning of the year, then got injured. Then it's just been going really good.”

Nashville’s next game is Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Bridgestone Arena (7 p.m., Fox Sports-Tennessee, ESPN+).



