Preds Fourth Line Key Contributors to Fast Start

You won't find many of their jerseys while traversing the Bridgestone Arena concourse.
They aren't typically the first ones with a conglomerate of media members loitering at their locker stalls after a big win.
They've only combined for two of the 19 goals the Predators have scored on the season, and both of those shots were thrown into empty nets.
Yes, the three predominant members who have combined to make up Nashville's fourth line won't be winning any scoring titles in the near future - or across the rest of their playing careers, for that matter - but that's quite all right with them.

In fact, while Nashville's star players from the goal crease out have been receiving many of accolades for their 5-1-0 start, it may be that trio - made up of Colton Sissons in between Zac Rinaldo and Miikka Salomaki - who are the unsung heroes of the campaign to date.
Sissons ranks eighth in the League among centermen who have taken more than 60 draws this season, converting at an impressive 59.3 percent. Rinaldo is tied for seventh in the NHL in hits and is just seven off of the League lead. And Salomaki? Well, he's just being effectively pesky, like usual.
The man in charge of calling their number has been impressed with what he's seen. He's just as comfortable putting them on the ice in the early stages of the skirmish as he is in the final minutes of a one-goal game.
"You put lines together, and it's an opportunity to see how they respond to situations," Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. "Whether or not they're playing good defense, whether or not they're willing to pay a price to win a battle on a wall or block a shot - they've done a really good job with that. For me, their decision making with the puck has been good, their defense has been good and that's how you earn trust and earn those responsibilities."

That confidence from the top has an immediate trickle-down effect on the participants below. It's not uncommon to see Sissons lined up against one of the opposition's top centermen, with the North Vancouver native and his wingers tasked with making life uncomfortable for those on the other side.
"That's something that I pride myself in, and I'm always up to that challenge, whoever I need to go play against," Sissons said. "If I need to shut down a top line or go head-to-head against another team's fourth line, whatever challenge arises, I'm game with it. I've been with Lavi long enough now that he knows my game and trusts me in that role."
That familiarity with Sissons translates right over to Rinaldo, too. Signed in the offseason to provide an element of toughness and physicality, the scrappy winger has also proven to the coaching staff he's more than just brawn, now a more well-rounded player than what Laviolette saw at times when the two were together in Philadelphia.
Now reunited, Laviolette was confident from the get-go in training camp that Rinaldo could not only make Nashville's Opening Night roster, but make a positive impact as well. Once again, coach knows best.

"Zac has been really good," Laviolette said after Nashville's win over Winnipeg. "He's been a big part of it. He provides some physical presence, he's played a good brand of hockey and plays to an identity that we're looking to play with."
"Getting Rhino into the fold has worked out beautifully," Sissons said of Rinaldo. "He's out there playing his game, playing physical, bringing energy, and he's also making some plays and we're getting chances to score because of it."
The ever-popular cliché of getting pucks deep and going hard on the forecheck - another way of saying we'd like to play in the opponent's territory and make it difficult for them to try and exit the zone - is fully applicable in this sense.
According to Rinaldo, it's top of mind every time he climbs over the boards, playing within the parameters of his role to perfection.
"The biggest thing is just getting out of our end and playing in their end, because that's how you create momentum," Rinaldo said. "When you play in their end, there's a lot more opportunity to create scoring chances, of playing physical and just creating momentum. Getting it deep and going to work, that's the first thing I think of."

That thought process has helped the Predators to 10 out of a possible 12 points in the early going, a stark contrast from what Rinaldo experienced last season in the desert with the Arizona Coyotes. The transition to Nashville has been a breath of fresh air for the seven-year veteran, who is coming off a season in which he saw a career high in goals and a career low in penalty minutes.
Yes, things are good in Smashville, but even so, you won't catch Rinaldo or his teammates finding any laurels to rest upon with 76 games still ahead of them.
"In Arizona, we had a terrible start, but being here and having the start we're having right now is just a totally different feeling," Rinaldo said. "It's a totally different confidence boost, but there's still so much hockey left to play and we can't get comfortable. We're not going to get comfortable, and we just have to keep going. We're not dwelling on our record, we're not dwelling on the last game, every game is a new game for us."
Sure, the fourth line would like to put a few more pucks in the net in those coming contests, and as long as they keep doing their jobs, they'll keep getting chances.
They may be at the bottom of the depth chart when listed among Nashville's forward corps, but don't let the seeding fool you. The members of Nashville's fourth line are doing much more than just rounding out a roster - they're mucking and grinding in the trenches, contributing to their club's success daily.
Kind of makes you want to consider another jersey, doesn't it?
"It's just about doing the right things," Laviolette said. "It's the battle level, the compete level; it's about being in the right position defensively, the reads that you have to make when you're on the ice, getting the puck outside the blue line or in at the redline - you really have to do everything. They've got to be responsible for everything, and they've done a good job at it."