Game Day: Avalanche vs. Preds Preview

After sweeping a three-game trip out west, the Nashville Predators have returned home to host the Colorado Avalanche tonight at Bridgestone Arena. This evening's contest is the third of four meetings between the divisional foes this season; the Preds and Avs have split their series thus far, including a 5-2 win for Nashville back in December.
The Predators enter tonight's game on a four-game win streak thanks in part to that sweep through Vegas, Los Angeles and Arizona. Goaltender Juuse Saros, who was named the NHL's Second Star of the Week for his efforts, stopped 125 shots through those three games, a key contributor to Nashville's success all season long.

Now, the Preds will face a Colorado team that has games in hand and has routinely outscored opponents this season, an intriguing matchup for a Nashville club that has won 12 of their last 15 outings over the past two months.
"We view it as really being excited for the challenge," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said following his team's optional practice on Monday. "They're playing very well right now. You look at their record as of late and they're winning a lot, but we like our game right now. We found a way to win quite a few games here as of late, so I think for us, it's going to be a really good test. Coming off the road, coming back into our building, I think it's important for us to get off to a great start. We're really excited, and you can tell just excitement around the guys today of playing the caliber team of Colorado is something we want to see where we stand here."
The Predators are also eager for the chance to play inside Bridgestone Arena once more, a building that has only hosted two of Nashville's last 12 games overall.
"It's nice to get back, have a couple of home games and let guys get back into some of their home routines - and most importantly come back and play at Bridgestone, play in front of our fans," Hynes said. "We've done a good job on the road, but as the year continues to move on here, we want to make sure that we're a really hard team to play against and to get our fans really behind us and make Bridgestone one of the hardest places to play down the stretch."
Predators forward Filip Forsberg was added to the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list on Saturday and missed that outing against the Coyotes. Defenseman Dante Fabbro has missed the last four games for the Preds due to his spot on the protocol list.

The Good Guys:

Mattias Ekholm, Yakov Trenin, Tanner Jeannot and Roman Josi all tallied during Saturday's 4-2 victory in Arizona, and Saros made 38 saves to record his 19th win over the season. The Predators were fifth in the NHL in power-play percentage entering Monday's action, operating at 26.4 percent (28-for-106), and they've scored multiple power-play goals on eight occasions this season, their most since doing so 15 times in 2017-18.
Josi (12g-22a) continues to pace the club with 34 points, followed by Mikael Granlund (5g-27a) with 32 points and Matt Duchene (14g-17a) with 31 points. Forsberg is Nashville's leading goal scorer with 18 tallies, but they'll rely on others to step up in his absence, including Ryan Johansen (10g-19a) who has 29 points on the season. Rookie forward Tanner Jeannot has 11 goals, 22 points and 62 penalty minutes in 36 games, and Saros is 19-9-1 in net with a .929 save percentage.

The Opposition:

The Avalanche defeated Seattle by a 4-3 final last night to extend their win streak to five games, but Colorado's captain Gabriel Landeskog was placed into COVID protocol on Monday as well.
Nazem Kadri (13g-33a) leads the Avs with 46 points, followed by Mikko Rantanen (16g-24a) with 40 points and Nathan MacKinnon (5g-29a) with 34 points in just 22 games. Defenseman Cale Makar has 15 goals and 31 points from the backend; Andre Burakovsky has 12 goals on the campaign. Darcy Kuemper is 16-5-0 in the season with a .908 save percentage.

All-Time Meetings:

The Predators are 44-33-(5)-3 all-time against the Avalanche, including a 22-15-(3)-1 record at Bridgestone Arena. Nashville has won 13 of its last 18 regular-season games against Colorado, including an 11-game win streak from April 5, 2016-Nov. 7, 2018. During the win streak, Nashville posted 4.2 goals per game and held Colorado to two-or-fewer goals seven times.
The Preds are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games against the Avs at Bridgestone Arena, winning five in a row from April 5, 2016-Nov. 18, 2017.

Notables Versus Colorado:

Matt Duchene was drafted third overall by the Avalanche in the 2009 NHL Draft. He recorded 428 points (178g-250a) in nine seasons with Colorado from 2009-17. Duchene has six goals and seven points in seven career games against his former team.
Roman Josi recorded a 12-game point streak vs. Colorado (5g-11a) from March 28, 2016-Jan. 21, 2019. He's recorded a point in 25 of his 36 career games against the Avalanche, tallying 12 goals and 33 points.
Colton Sissons posted a career-high three assists on Dec. 16 vs. the Avs. He has 13 points (8g-5a) in 17 career regular-season games vs. Colorado; including the postseason, he has 20 points (11g-9a) in 23 games against the Avs.
Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard was selected by the Predators in the second round (47th overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft. He skated in five games for Nashville in 2017-18, tallying three points (1g-2a).

Watch & Listen:

Coverage for this evening's 7 p.m. CT puck drop from Nashville begins at 6:30 p.m. CT with the Predators Live! pregame show on Bally Sports South. Pregame coverage on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network begins at 6 p.m. CT. For broadcast information and channel locations throughout the country,
click here
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