For the Nashville Predators, the phrase “next man up” has taken on an entirely new meaning during the Stanley Cup Finals.

Already down 2-0 to Pittsburgh in the series while playing without their star centre Ryan Johansen and suffering the ill-effects of Pekka Rinne’s shaky play in those games, the Predators watched Pittsburgh take another early lead in game three.

The situation seemed dire. Somebody needed to step up and take control of game three if Nashville was going to survive a potential sweep.

But instead of one person, it was five. A quintuplet of Predators scored to go along with Rinne’s bounce-back 27-save performance to complete a 5-1 victory, which clawed the first-time Cup contenders back in the series.

“Everybody was ready to go and they were dialled in,” said Coach Peter Laviolette. “Then you give up the first goal. You're in your building for the first Stanley Cup Final game. That's a little difficult.”

“It's almost like they weren't going to let that happen. That was a good boost for us.”

Defenceman Roman Josi, who added a goal in the lopsided game-three victory says the entire roster is aware they must contribute.

“Yeah, I think everybody wanted to step up this game a little bit, the whole team,” he began. “We knew we could play better.”

Then, in game four, with the teams locked at 1-1 in the second period, another unlikely source delivered the game-winning goal.

Rookie Frederick Gaudreau threw a wrap-around try at the Penguins net, which in real time seemed to be stopped by Penguins goalie Matt Murray, but was overturned after video review revealed the puck has crossed the goal line.

The goal sparked the Predators who never looked back and knotted the series at two games apiece heading back to Pittsburgh.

It was Gaudreau’s third, but biggest by far, goal of this series. He became just the second player ever to score his first three NHL goals during the Stanley Cup.

The only other player to do so was John Harms of the 1943/44 Chicago Blackhawks.

“Maybe I'm not too old, but I’ve lived through some stuff,” Gaudreau said through his thick Quebec accent.

“It's two years I'm in the pros. Every time I was trying to get better mentally. I'm getting to that point where I think I can handle all those situations.”

It’s an incredible achievement for a guy who doesn’t even have his own stall in the Predators locker room due to the volume of injuries and call-ups forced upon the team this postseason.

He dresses at a chair positioned in the middle of the locker room.

Remarkably, Gaudreau has played just 15 total games in the NHL, including regular season (9) and playoffs (6). Prior to this year, Gaudreau spent time in the ECHL and AHL after not being drafted out of the QMJHL in 2014.

“That's a credit to him,” Laviolette said. “When you start the way he did, having to work for everything, literally every contract and every opportunity, improve yourself. At this level, it's no different.”

In total, the Predators 13 goals this series have come from 11 different players. By contrast, Pittsburgh has used just five players to score 11 goals.

Season-ending injuries to Ryan Johansen in the Western Conference Final and Kevin Fiala in the second round, plus prolonged injuries to Craig Smith and Mike Fisher have allowed for role players to not only help, but star during Nashville’s improbable Stanley Cup run.

“We are who we are with the injuries,” Laviolette added. “Certainly I think that could give us more depth up front.”

“But guys have stepped up. We have done it by committee. We've done it by guys answering the call.”

Nashville’s highly ranked defence has answered that call as well. In game three, they held Sidney Crosby and Yevgeni Malkin shot-less, something that’s only happened a few times in their entire career playing together.

Pittsburgh scored a total of nine goals the first pair of games, but just two in Nashville.

“Next Man Up” was the motif of the regular season as well – twelve different players recorded double-digits goals while ten on the roster recorded 30-plus points.

Most surprising was the contribution of Victor Arvidsson, who turned eight goals a season ago into 31 this year – one of the largest increases league-wide. He tied Filip Forsberg for the team lead in goals and Johansen for points (61).

Arvidsson also scored the game-winning goal in game one of the opening round against Chicago to ignite this playoff run.

Speaking of Forsberg, the young Swede ended his Stanley Cup scoreless drought with a goal of his own in game four. It’s a good sign for the man who has adroitly filled Johansen’s shoes and leads the team in playoff points (16) and goals (9) in the postseason.

“I said this the other day – you're at a point in the season where you sink or swim,” Laviolette said definitively.

“Those are your only two choices. We need to have guys to continue to play the game at a high level because of where we're at in the season right now.”

One guy who absolutely stepped up in games three and four was Pekka Rinne – a veteran who knows that at his position, there really is no “next man up” so he adjusted his game accordingly.

After uncharacteristically surrendering eight goals in the first two games of the series, Rinne stopped 50 of 52 shots during the pair of games in Nashville.

Many of those were highlight-reel saves, keeping his team close early in games and preserving leads late.

“You always have ups and downs. You try to stay even keel,” Rinne said. “At those moments, you just mentally try to erase your mind, just focus on the next save, remind yourself that you're still in the Finals.”

“Life is pretty good.”

Life is good for the Predators and their legions of fans that now find themselves in a best-of-three mini-series to win the Cup.

Game five will be staged in Pittsburgh on Thursday evening.

RYAN O’LEARY