Led by several of their 18 Milwaukee Admirals alumni, the Nashville Predators have tied the series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-2, in their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

Thanks to the game-winning goal by Frederick Gaudreau and yet another stellar performance from goaltender Pekka Rinne, the Predators beat the Penguins, 4-1, in Game 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final in Nashville on Tuesday.

Despite an up-and-down regular season that included an outbreak of food poisoning, at-times porous defense and Nashville barely making the playoffs, as well as injuries to several key players in the postseason, the until-recently NHL also-ran in its suddenly hockey-mad town is competing for the sport’s biggest prize.

And the Predators’ AHL affiliate here in Milwaukee has a lot to do with that.  

Of the 26 players that have appeared in the postseason for Nashville, 18 of them were once Admirals. Former Milwaukee players have scored 48 of the Preds’ 60 postseason goals (80 percent), including 12 of their 13 scores in the Stanley Cup Final (92.3 percent). In fact, in Game 4, as in Games 1 and 2, all of the goals came from sticks of ex-Admirals.

Filip Forsberg, who skated for the Ads in 2013-14, leads the team with 16 points and his nine goals are tied for second among all players in the postseason. Ryan Ellis (13 points, +5 plus/minus rating), Roman Josi (14 points, +4) and Mattias Ekholm (11, +9) all spent time in Milwaukee between 2010 and 2013 and have anchored Nashville’s defense. Wings Viktor Arvidsson (13 points, +9) and Austin Watson (nine, +3), who combined to play parts of five seasons for the Admirals, have helped bolster the attack.

But in Game 4, it was the duo of Gaudreau and Rinne – the former a little-used 24-year-old reserve center who was playing in Milwaukee earlier this season, the latter a prominent 35-year-old veteran goalie who won a Calder Cup and was an Admirals fan favorite more than a decade ago – that made the difference.

Gaudreau, who entered the Stanley Cup with one career NHL goal (regular season and playoffs combined), has already scored two in the series, including the wrap-around, overturned game-winner on Tuesday. Rinne, who was selected in 2004 with the final pick of the eighth round in a draft that now only has seven rounds, stayed hot, making 23 saves in the Game 4 win. He's made 78 saves in the Stanley Cup Final and is the playoff leader in every major goaltending category (among those that qualify), including save percentage (.932) and goals-against average (1.88).

The strong, steady play of Rinne, who has brilliantly blended aggression and composure this postseason, was crucial to Nashville’s playoff series wins over Chicago, St. Louis and Anaheim. And the unexpected offensive boost from players like Gaudreau, an Admiral from 2014-16, and Colton Sissons, an Admiral from 2013-16 who had a hat trick in the Preds' series-clinching Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals and scored a goal in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup, was much-needed after injuries to forwards Mike Fisher, Ryan Johansen, Kevin Fiala and Craig Smith. Nashville has succeeded with a high-effort, opportunistic, defend-and-counterattack style, and it has been dominant at home, where the team is 9-1 in the playoffs and has outscored opponents, 34-15, at the invigorated Bridgestone Arena.

In their 18th season, the Predators are in their first Stanley Cup, and the contributions of their Admirals alumni are a big reason why they're even with the Penguins, which had the second-best record in the league during the regular season. The series now heads back to Pittsburgh for Game 5 on Thursday. 

Here is a list of the former Milwaukee players that have appeared for Nashville in the postseason, with their statistics through 20 games, so you know who to cheer for as they continue their quest for the Cup.

Filip Forsberg (Admirals, 2013-14): 20 games, 9 goals, 7 assists, 16 points, plus-17
Roman Josi (2010-12): 20 games, 6 goals, 8 assists, 14 points, plus-4
Ryan Ellis (2011-12): 20 games, 5 goals, 8 assists, 13 points, plus-5
Colton Sissons (2013-16): 20 games, 6 goals, 6 assists, 12 points, plus-9
Viktor Arvidsson (2014-16): 20 games, 3 goals, 10 assists, 13 points, plus-9
Mattias Ekholm (2012-13): 20 games, 1 goals, 10 assists, 11 points, plus-9
Austin Watson (2010-11, 2013-15): 20 games, 4 goals, 5 assists, 9 points, plus-3
Calle Jarnkrok (2013-14): 19 games, 2 goal, 5 assists, 7 points, minus-1
Pontus Aberg (2014-16): 14 games, 2 goal, 3 assists, 5 points, plus-1
Colin Wilson (2009-10): 12 games, 2 goals, 2 assists, 4 points, minus-1
Craig Smith (2012-13): 8 games, 1 goals, 2 assist, 3 points, plus-3
Frederick Gaudreau (2014-16): 6 games, 3 goals, 0 assists, 3 points, plus-2
Matt Irwin (2016-17): 20 games, 0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points, plus-2
Kevin Fiala (2014-16): 5 games, 2 goals, 0 assists, 2 points, plus-0
Vernon Fiddler (2002-06): 9 games, 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 points, minus-4
Miikka Salomaki (2013-16): 6 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points, plus-0
Pekka Rinne (2005-08): 20 games, 14-6 record, 1.88 GAA, .932 Sv%
Juuse Saros (2015-16): 1 game, 0-0 record, 0.0 GAA, 1.000 Sv%