Filip Forsberg's 16th goal of the season and a Steven Stamkos empty-netter were all the offense the Nashville Predators needed in a narrow 2-0 win over the New York Rangers on Sunday at Bridgestone Arena. 

Stamkos found the empty net with 48 seconds left in the game. 

Justus Annunen picked up his second win of the season. He made 16 saves on 17 shots in the victory. Annunen's other win was against the Detroit Red Wings, 6-3 on Nov. 26.

Here are three takeaways from the Predators' victory over the Rangers.  

Forsberg, O'Reilly extend point streaks

Forsberg and O'Reilly, who combined for the Predators' only 5-on-5 goal of the game, have been riding a wave of success through December.

Forsberg extended his point streak to eight games, scoring 11 in that run. With O'Reilly recording the assist, he's extended his point streak to seven games and has 16 points in 13 games.

On the goal, O'Reilly entered the zone and lost the handle on the puck. He was able to regather it and make a drop pass to Forsberg, who beamed it glove side past Jonathan Quick. 

"I knew he was going to drop me the puck," Forsberg said. "He does that in practice, he does that in the game and for almost three years now. I didn't move. I didn't take any strides. I had feeling it was coming and it was right on the tape, as usual." 

A lot of the Predators success on offense has be contributed to their ability to break the puck out and enter into their opponents zone. The only game where that has stuttered in this month long run was the 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. 

"We've done a good job of being predictable in our own end, which has led to that rush offense," O'Reilly said. "It's fun when you get 2-on-1s and 3-on-2s. It's exciting when you have the puck in your hands and speed, but it starts in our own end." 

Big Juice gets a big win 

One of the Predators players that has had the roughest year of the bunch is Annunen. Coming into Sunday's game, he had a 3.73 goals against average, a .865 save percentage and a 1-5-1 record. 

His GAA and save percentage are some of the worst in the NHL, but he had a bounce back performance against the Rangers.

Annunen was 37 seconds away from his first shutout as a Nashville Predator and first perfect game since March 4, 2024 in a 5-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks when he was with the Colorado Avalanche. Jonny Brodzinski ended the shutout bid. 

Brunette said was complimentary of the Predators game, but had wished they were able to get "big juice" a shutout.

He also justified Annunen's struggling numbers, saying that he was put in some "unideal situations." 

"He's (Annunen) a highly competitive kid," Brunette said. "He's put in some situations that weren't ideal for him and then he's gone through stretches because Little Juice has been so good he hasn't played for a while. We have to be really fair when we evaluate them. We put him in some hard places, and we put him when he's a little bit rusty."

Nashville eyeing .500 

The Predators are now 15-16-4 on the year, approaching .500 for the first time since 4-4-2 on Oct. 26. With 34 points, they are now the lone team in sixth place in the Central Division.

A win over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, if the standings hold, would give them 36 points and move them into fifth place in the Central Division past St. Louis. They'd also be at .500 going into the Christmas break.

It also may be too early, but a win over the Wild would put them three points outside of a Wild Card spot. 

"We're not where we want to be, but we're trying like heck to get there," Brunette said. "Today was a great example of that. 
We are going through the process and we're building something. Now, we haven't got to where, we talked about building an identity. 
We're starting to, but we're not the finished product isn't quite there yet. We've got to stack these games." 

With the team playing well, the focus remains on winning the day. The playoff window maybe opening a creak, but Nashville is currently focused on beating the Wild on Tuesday. 

"We're crawling back into this thing," O'Reilly said. "It's a lot more fun, everyone is contributing and it's fun coming to the rink. It was pretty dark there for awhile, but to everyones credit, they're working hard. There's still a lot of work left. Let's get this next one before the break." 

Up next: Nashville Predators (15-16-4, 6th in Central) at Minnesota Wild (22-10-5. 3rd in Central) on Tuesday, Dec. 23 at 7p.m CST at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minn.