Fresh off Nashville scoring mark, Josi chasing down Leetch

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville captain Roman Josi finally has chased down Paul Kariya for the Predators’ single-season scoring record.

Next up is Brian Leetch, someone who might be much tougher to catch.

Josi added three assists last week at Ottawa in his career season, giving him 87 points to top the mark of 85 set by Hall of Famer Kariya in 2005-06. Josi is just the 10th defenseman in NHL history to put up 87 points in a season and he has nine games remaining to become the first defenseman in three decades to reach the 100-point mark.

Leetch is the last defenseman to reach that mark, with 102 points to win his first of two Norris Trophy awards in his Hall of Fame career. Josi’s 87 points are the most by an NHL defenseman since Ray Bourque had 91 and Sergei Zubov 89 in 1993-94.

Not that Josi has taken time to enjoy the best scoring season of his career. He’s too busy trying to extend Nashville’s playoff streak to an eighth straight season, with the Predators trying to hold onto a wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

“This time of the year, it’s all about winning,” said Josi, the 2020 Norris Trophy winner.

Josi leads all NHL defensemen and ranks 10th in the NHL in points. Through Tuesday night, he had 19 goals with his 68 assists second among all NHL skaters.

He led the league with 32 points in March, the first defenseman to do that in any month since Paul Coffey in February 1990. He also joined Coffey and Bobby Orr as the only defensemen to score at least 28 points in a calendar month.

The Predators captain also has four four-point games this season, twice as many as any other defenseman this season. He had four straight games with at least three points, a feat only Orr in 1970-71, managed among NHL defensemen.

The Predators played a video from Kariya congratulating Josi on topping his franchise mark last weekend. Josi credits his success to teammates who also are having career years.

This is the first season Nashville has ever had three players with…