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One thousand regular-season wins.

That’s a lot of goals, saves, hits, shot blocks, stitches, emotion, pressure, jubilation and everything else that comes with a single game in the National Hockey League.

And now, since the NHL’s inception in 1917, the Nashville Predators are the 27th franchise in League history to reach the mark.

Doing so in just their 26th season is no small feat. No club that has come after them since 1998 has reached the plateau, and since that first puck drop in October of that year? Only 10 NHL clubs have more victories in the regular season.

In fact, the Preds are the second-fastest team in NHL history - 2,020 games played - to achieve the feat.

A pair of goals from Steven Stamkos on Tuesday in a 5-3 win over Vegas helped to give the Preds their 1,000th win in club history, a storybook moment the night before the Predators officially unveiled the Golden Hall to celebrate the franchise’s top members.

“It’s really amazing, actually, to be part of two different big events in different ways,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said following the 1,000th win. “I’ve been really grateful for my career to be able to do some certain things, and that definitely is one. You go through this hockey life that I've gone through, and you sometimes look back…every day this year, you're looking forward, but to be part of that is really special, and I think I'm very grateful for having that opportunity, and the people that let me have that opportunity. So, it couldn't have come at a better time with what's going on tomorrow, with David [Poile] and Pekka [Rinne] and Shea [Weber being inducted into the Preds Golden Hall]. I know there's a lot of alumni in the building, and I hope everybody feels a little better about the Nashville Predators tonight when we go home.”

So, how did we get here? Let’s take a look back at the other milestone victories over the past 25 years for the Predators - starting with the first triumph, and then every hundredth after that.

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Win No. 1:

The Predators began their existence on home ice in Nashville - and were shut out, 1-0, by the Florida Panthers. A bit of a bummer, yes, but they made up for it three nights later.

On Oct. 13, 1998, the first goal in Preds franchise history was scored by none other than Head Coach Andrew Brunette during his playing days just over five minutes into the game. Nashville jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the visiting Carolina Hurricanes before hanging on for a 3-2 victory to collect win No. 1 in just their second-ever contest.

Denny Lambert and J.J. Daigneault also tallied in the win, and Nashville’s first captain, the late Greg Johnson, recorded two assists. Goaltender Mike Dunham stopped 34 of the 36 shots he faced in net to earn his first win with his new team.

Win No. 100:

Understandably, the expansion Predators had to wait a few more years to reach their next milestone victory.

Nashville recorded just 28 wins in each of their first two seasons of existence, but a 34-win campaign in the new millennium set up their 100th triumph in the 2001-02 season, their fourth as a franchise.

The Preds recorded a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 6, 2001 in Nashville, with goals from Johnson, Vladimir Orszagh and a pair of tallies from Andy Delmore. Former fan-favorite Scott Hartnell added a pair of helpers on the night, and Dunham made 28 saves for the win in net.

Win No. 200:

A few more years went by - including the season-long lockout of 2004-05 - before the Predators picked up their 200th victory, but a 49-win campaign out of the lockout ensured that number would be reached.

The triumph came on Dec. 3, 2005, once again on home ice, as the Preds beat the Philadelphia Flyers by a 4-3 final in a shootout, the first season the breakaway competition was used to decide games. Nashville got goals from Paul Kariya - their highest-profile free agent signee at the time - Martin Erat and Yanic Perreault in regulation, and Erat potted the only goal in the shootout to give the Preds their 17th win of the season in just 27 games.

Win No. 300:

The Predators needed seven seasons to record their first, 100th and 200th wins, but the milestones began to come much quicker after that. After a 49-win season in 2005-06, and the first 50-win season in 2006-07 - 51 to be exact - Nashville’s 300th victory came one year later.

The Preds defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets by a 4-3 count just two days after Christmas in Nashville with goals from former captain Jason Arnott, Alexander Radulov, fan-favorite Jordin Tootoo and the game-winner from Ville Koistinen with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. The tally was Koistinen’s first career goal and completed a three-point night for the young Finn.

Win No. 400

Nashville’s 400th win came in Georgia against the Thrashers in what would end up being Atlanta’s penultimate season before moving to Winnipeg to become the Jets in 2011.

But on March 9, 2010, the Preds were very much facing the Thrashers at what was known as Phillips Arena at the time and squeaked out a 2-1 victory. Ryan Suter and Colin Wilson gave the Predators a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, and that was all they’d need to secure their 28th win of the 2009-10 season to that point. Jason Arnott and Martin Erat assisted on Suter’s power-play goal, and goaltender Dan Ellis stopped 30 of 31 shots he faced to earn the win.

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Win No. 500

The Predators were well on their way to their seventh playoff appearance in their last eight seasons as the 2011-12 campaign wound down, and their 500th victory in franchise history couldn’t have come against a better opponent.

The Preds were in Detroit to face the Red Wings - their original rival - on March 30, 2012, and they came up with a satisfying 4-1 win for their 45th victory of that season. Gabriel Bourque, Francis Bouillon, Alexander Radulov and Shea Weber all found the back of the net, and Pekka Rinne, in the midst of his first 40-win season, made 31 saves.

Rinne also collected an assist on Radulov’s tally, while current Preds broadcaster Hal Gill added his fifth helper as a member of the team after being acquired from Montreal earlier that season.

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Win No. 600

After a lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, and then a 38-win 2013-14 campaign that saw the Preds miss out on the postseason, the club got back to its winning ways a year later. With Peter Laviolette behind the Nashville bench, the Preds rattled off 47 wins in 2014-15, and the 600th in team history came on March 14 in Los Angeles.

The Predators beat the Kings by a 2-1 final with goals from Craig Smith and Viktor Stalberg in a span of 1:06 in the third period to stun their opponent. Smith’s tally was his 22nd of the season, and Rinne just happened to earn his 200th NHL win on the same night to give himself an even third of Nashville’s all-time victories in net.

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Win No. 700

Nashville’s 700th win came in the midst of their best season in franchise history, the 53-win, Presidents’ Trophy campaign of 2017-18.

The Predators’ dads were in attendance for the team’s Father’s Trip in St. Louis as they watched their sons shut out the St. Louis Blues by a 2-0 count the day after Thanksgiving. Ryan Johansen scored just 2:32 into the contest, and plenty of nails were bitten the rest of the way until Austin Watson found the empty net with less than a minute remaining in regulation.

Rinne stopped all 34 shots he faced as he earned the victory in front of his father, Jukka, and with his 45th career shutout, the most ever by a Finnish goaltender at the time.

"It's special for sure," Rinne said following the game. "For all of us, our dads mean so much to us. Him being there, it makes it really special.”

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Win No. 800

The next milestone came two years later on Dec. 10, 2019 as the Preds topped the San Jose Sharks by a 3-1 final at Bridgestone Arena. All four of the game’s goals came in the final frame with Nick Bonino, Ryan Johansen and Calle Jarnkrok finding twine for Nashville. Filip Forsberg assisted on both Johansen’s and Jarnkrok’s markers, and Juuse Saros stopped 24 of 25 shots in the win.

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Win No. 900

The most recent of the hundred wins came on Oct. 27, 2022 with a convincing 6-2 win against the Blues in Nashville, the largest margin of victory for any of the milestone victories.

Tanner Jeannot, Michael McCarron, Zach Sanford, Ryan Johansen, Roman Josi and Mikael Granlund all tallied for Nashville, while Filip Forsberg had three helpers on the night as the Preds snapped a five-game skid for their first home win of the season.

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And now, on a cold Tuesday night in January, 2025, they’ve reached 1,000. Here’s to a thousand more…