Hurricanes at Predators preview

HURRICANES (36-24-7) at PREDATORS (39-25-5)
8 p.m. ET; FS-CR, FS-TN, NHL.TV

Nashville has won back-to-back games and is 5-3-0 in its past eight. The Predators are one point behind the Winnipeg Jets, who defeated the Hurricanes 8-1 at PNC Arena on Friday.
The Hurricanes are 0-1-1 in their past two games after going 11-2-0 in their previous 13. Carolina owns the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference and is two points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Goaltender Petr Mrazek is 5-1-0 with a 1.68 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage in his past six starts for Carolina.

Players to watch

Carolina forward Sebastian Aho has eight points (five goals, three assists) in his past seven games.
Nashville forward Viktor Arvidsson has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past three games.

They said it

"We didn't have anything going. I don't think there was one part of our game that was any good. We were getting beat right from the beginning. We made it very, very easy on them." -- Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk on the loss to the Jets
"I think we've seen some things that we've liked. [Nick Bonino, Rocco Grimaldi and Wayne Simmonds] have been together for a few games now, and I've really liked it. They've produced some goals, so that's there right now. I think we're still looking for other contributions as well." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette on his patience with new lines

Hurricanes projected lineup

Nino Niederreiter -- Sebastian Aho -- Justin Williams
Micheal Ferland -- Jordan Staal -- Teuvo Teravainen
Andrei Svechnikov -- Jordan Martinook -- Brock McGinn
Greg McKegg -- Lucas Wallmark -- Saku Maenalanen
Jaccob Slavin -- Dougie Hamilton
Brett Pesce -- Justin Faulk
Calvin de Haan -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Petr Mrazek
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched:Warren Foegele
Injured:None

Predators projected lineup

Filip Forsberg -- Ryan Johansen -- Viktor Arvidsson
Mikael Granlund -- Colton Sissons -- Craig Smith
Rocco Grimaldi -- Nick Bonino -- Wayne Simmonds
Brian Boyle -- Kyle Turris -- Calle Jarnkrok
Roman Josi -- Ryan Ellis
Mattias Ekholm -- P.K. Subban
Matt Irwin -- Yannick Weber
Juuse Saros
Pekka Rinne
Scratched:Matt Donovan, Cody McLeod, Frederick Gaudreau
Injured:Zac Rinaldo (shoulder), Miikka Salomaki (upper body), Dan Hamhuis (lower body )
Suspended:Austin Watson

Status report

The Hurricanes did not hold a morning skate. … The Predators held an optional morning skate. Forsberg participated after taking Thursday and Friday as maintenance days.

Stat pack

Staal is one point from 500 for his NHL career. … Josi has two points (one goal, one assist) in his past six games after getting 13 (five goals, eight assists) in his previous nine games.