Goalie Connor Ingram is expected to start against the Predators, and the 26-year-old is 4-1-0 with a 2.47 goals-against average and .919 save percentage this season. He is 0-1-1 in his career against Nashville, which is where he started his NHL career in 2021-22.
Arizona continues to have one of the top-rated power plays in the league, ranking sixth with a 27.45 percent conversion rate. It recently bolstered its penalty kill percentage with a 7-for-7 performance against the Blues on Thursday, and now ranks 21st with a 75.51 percent success rate.
Player to Watch: None other than Crouse, who has scored five goals and recorded three assists in 15 career games against the Predators.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS
Nashville is opening up a five-game homestand, and though the Preds have dropped two straight and four of their last five, they have played well at home this season, posting a 3-2-0 record in five games at Bridgestone Arena.
29-year-old Filip Forsberg leads the way in scoring, recording 14 points on four goals and 10 assists in 13 games this season. Ryan O’Reilly has scored seven goals this season, leading the way after signing a four-year deal win the Predators as a free agent this past offseason.
Lineups were not yet available, but goalie Juuse Saros has started 11 of the team’s 14 games to this point, posting a 4-7-0 record with a 2.96 GAA, .905 SV% and one shutout. The 28-year-old has finished within the top six of Vezina Trophy voting in each of the last three seasons, and is 4-2-1 in his career against the Coyotes.
Saros is just three games shy of 300 in his career and has started three of Nashville’s last four games, though he has not recorded a win since Oct. 28 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Backup Kevin Lankinen is 2-1-1 with a 3.01 GAA and .900 SV% this season, and is 1-1-1 in his career against Arizona. He was in net for the Preds’ last win, a 5-2 triumph over the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 4.
The Predators rank 23rd in goals-for per game (2.85) and 18th in goals against (3.23), while their power play ranks 16th (20.37 percent). Their penalty kill, however, ranks 31st, with a 69.77 percent success rate.
Player to Watch: O’Reilly has not registered a point in two games, but the veteran forward notched a hat trick – along with an assist – just three games again against the Oilers. The 32-year-old has faced the Coyotes 44 times in his 15-year career, compiling 13 goals and 22 assists against them.
