Game Day: Preds at Ducks Preview

The Nashville Predators (32-24-7) will face off against the Anaheim Ducks (22-35-9) for the final time this season Sunday at Honda Center.
The puck drops at 8:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio. Here's everything you need to know:

Line 'Em Up

Below are Nashville's lines from Saturday at Los Angeles:
Tomasino - Glass - Duchene
Sherwood - Novak - Evangelista
Trenin - Sissons - Smith
Afanasyev - Jankowski - McCarron
Josi - Fabbro
McDonagh - Barrie
Lauzon - Foote
Lankinen

Last Time Out

Nashville improved to 16-13-4 on the road in 2022-23 with Saturday's shootout win over the Kings. The Predators closed out their three-game regular-season series against the Kings with a 2-0-1 record. Nashville is now 8-7 in overtime/shootouts this season (4-5 in OT; 4-2 in shootouts).
Matt Duchene scored the game-deciding goal in the shootout, while Tommy Novak hit the 10-goal mark with his power-play tally at 19:04 of the first period. Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves and stopped all three of Los Angeles' shootout attempts to move to 8-5-1 on the season. Egor Afanasyev made his NHL debut, tallying two shots and a hit in 8:24 of ice time.

All-Time Meetings

The Predators are 37-31-(2)-11 all-time against the Ducks, including a 12-20-(0)-8 record on the road. This is the third and final matchup between Nashville and Anaheim in 2022-23 and the second and final at Honda Center.
Nashville is 2-0-0 against Anaheim this season, winning 6-1 on Dec. 30 and earning a 2-1 OT victory at home on Nov. 29. The Predators are 5-0-0 in their last five games against the Ducks and have earned at least a point in 14 of their last 16 games against Anaheim (11-2-3).

Notables vs. Anaheim

• Roman Josi scored his first career NHL goal on Dec. 10, 2011 vs. Anaheim. He has 22 points (7g-15a) in 29 career regular-season games and posted a five-game point streak (1g-6a) against the Ducks from Nov. 25, 2018-Jan. 16, 2020.
• Matt Duchene has 12 points (6g-6a) in his last 10 games against the Ducks, including two three-point performances in 2021-22.
• Colton Sissons has 11 points (5g-6a) in 17 career meetings with Anaheim.
• Jeremy Lauzon made his Predators debut on March 21, 2022 at Anaheim.

The Good Guys

• Juuse Saros is 21-12-5 with a 2.59 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in his last 38 games dating back to Nov. 12. His 21 wins in that time frame are tied for the fourth-most in the NHL; he is tied for third in save percentage since Nov. 12 (among goalies with at least 20 GP). He's made at least 30 saves in 21 of those games and has faced at least 30 shots in 26 of those outings.
• Josi owns the Predators team lead in points with 56 (17g-39a). He has 50 points (16g-34a) in his last 53 games after recording two assists on March 2 at Florida. Since Oct. 27, Josi is tied for first among NHL blueliners in goals (17); tied for fourth in points (55); and tied for eighth in assists (38).
• Duchene has 30 points (13g-17a) in his last 35 games, including two consecutive three-point efforts on Feb. 23 at San Jose (3a) and Feb. 26 at Arizona (1g-2a). He's recorded points in 10 of his last 17 games (8g-9a), tallying multiple points in five of those outings.
• Novak has 24 points (10g-14a) in 31 games with Nashville since being recalled from Milwaukee (AHL) on Dec. 19. He recorded his first career multi-goal game on Feb. 18 vs. Florida (2g), followed it up with a season-high three points on Feb. 19 at Minnesota (1g-2a) and tallied another three-point effort on Feb. 26 at Arizona (1g-2a).
• Evangelista has four points (2g-2a) in his first six career NHL games. He scored his first two career NHL goals on Monday at Vancouver.

The Other Guys

The Ducks are coming off a 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Friday. The game saw John Gibson become Anaheim's all-time saves leader with 1,1837.
Trevor Zegras leads all Ducks skaters in goals (21), assists (34) and points (45). Mason McTavish ranks second among all NHL rookies with 38 points (14g-20a).

Watch & Listen

Coverage for Sunday's game begins at 8 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on Bally Sports South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and analyst Chris Mason will have the call on the television side.
Max Herz and Hal Gill will call the game on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network. The game will also be broadcast in Spanish on El Jefe which airs on 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM and 810 AM.