Preds Trio of Bonino, Sissons, Watson is Defending, Scoring, Laughing

Peter Laviolette had an inkling.
Nashville's head coach already knew Nick Bonino, Colton Sissons and Austin Watson were excellent, two-way players, equally reliable at both ends of the ice.
He also knew, as the Predators entered their Round One series against the Avalanche, a top priority would be shutting down Colorado's top line, anchored by likely League MVP Nathan MacKinnon.

Putting that trio together - Bonino, with Sissons and Watson flanking his wings - started out as a plan to limit the chances from Colorado's best players.
Six games and one series win later, the line has combined for nine goals and 19 points. Funny how things can turn out in the postseason.
"Going into [the series], it was about putting that line together to handle the Nathan MacKinnon line," Laviolette said. "But all those guys, if there was 20 seconds on the clock and I needed three players on the ice, those would be the three players I would want to hang onto a win."

That's high praise from their head coach, and while they certainly appreciate the compliment, it's high-pressure situations such as those that seem to bring out the best in all three of them.
"It's something that you take pride in," Bonino said. "I like being out there at the end of games whether we're up or down. All three of us like to block shots, we like to play defensively, have a good 200-foot game, and it's nice he said that."
"All three of us take just as much pride in that fact that we're shutting down team's top players," Sissons said. "That MacKinnon line, we were challenged by them quite a bit over the series. We take a lot of pride in both ends of the rink."
As is typical in the playoffs, the challenge is likely to increase with Round Two looming, a date with the high-powered Winnipeg Jets that begins with Game 1 on Friday night in Nashville.
Will Laviolette's go-to shutdown unit be tasked with handling the line of Mark Scheifele between Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler? Or perhaps Paul Stastny centering Nikolaj Ehlers and 40-goal scorer Patrik Laine?
The answers to those questions remain to be seen, but one thing is for sure - Bonino and friends will be counted upon to limit the opposition - and at this rate, chip in a few more goals as well.
"It was quick chemistry, and I think sometimes that happens," Laviolette said of the line. "The reason, going into it, was because they were big and strong and good defensive players, smart hockey players, but the offense came from it as well. That's probably more of what you see when you talk about the chemistry… It was quick and it worked."

Not only is Bonino the confirmed comedian of the group, "I'm still the funniest of the three, and that won't change," but the intangibles a back-to-back Stanley Cup champion brings to the locker room are invaluable.
"Guys like Bones (Bonino) really show their colors this time of year when it really matters," Sissons said. "He's just got such a quiet confidence and experience that it's great having him around. You really trust what he's telling you and what he says in the room and it's really nice to have someone who's been there and done that."
Not every hunch works out favorably - any coach knows that - but this one just may have secured Nashville's advancement to the second round.
If this trajectory continues, Bonino, Sissons and Watson may not only continue to find themselves fending off that final feverish push in their own end, they might just stick around atop the scoring list as well. No joke.
"You can play really good playoff hockey and not get goals and nobody really notices, but it's good to see it go in," Bonino said. "This is a fun time of the year… I just keep doing the same things I've had success with for years and hope that it works."