Game Day: Preds at Avalanche Preview

After dropping a 5-1 decision to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, the Nashville Predators will cap off a five-game road trip with a rematch of the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs as they visit the defending champion Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.
The puck drops at Ball Arena at 8 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised on Bally Sports South. Here's everything you need to know:

Line 'Em Up

Below are Nashville's lines from Tuesday's game at Seattle:
Forsberg - Granlund - Duchene
Niederreiter - Johansen - Sanford
Trenin - Sissons - Jeannot
Smith - Jankowski - McCarron
Josi - Gross
Ekholm - Fabbro
McDonagh - Lauzon
Saros

The Good Guys

• Roman Josi has six points (2g-4a) in his last six games after scoring a power-play goal on Nov. 3 at Calgary. He leads NHL defensemen in shots on goal (54) and is 12th in average TOI (24:38).
• Filip Forsberg moved into sole possession of third place on the Predators' all-time points list with his 482nd (225g-257a) on Tuesday at Seattle. He leads Nashville in points with 13 (5g-8a) and has three multi-point outings in his last six games.
• Mikael Granlund has opened 2022-23 with nine assists and 10 points in his first 13 games.
• Nino Niederreiter has six goals and eight points in his first 13 games with the Predators to begin 2022-23. He's scored twice in his last four games.
• Predators defensemen have taken 300 shot attempts, the fourth-most among all NHL teams. Nashville's 132 shots on goal from blueliners are tied for the sixth-most in the NHL.
• The Predators are sixth in the NHL in face-off percentage (53.9 percent). Among NHL players who have taken at least 200 faceoffs, Ryan Johansen is first at 65.2 percent. Colton Sissons is fourth in the NHL in shorthanded faceoffs won (26).

The Other Guys

The Avalanche are coming off a two-game sweep of the Columbus Blue Jackets at the 2022 NHL Global Series in Tampere, Finland. After producing seven assists and a plus-six rating through those two games, Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon earned the NHL's Second Star of the Week honors.
MacKinnon leads the Avs with 19 points (3g-16a) through 11 games, while Valeri Nichushkin (now on IR after undergoing ankle surgery earlier this week) and Mikko Rantanen have a team-high seven goals apiece.

All-Time Meetings

The Predators are 47-33-(5)-3 all-time against the Avalanche, including a 23-18-(2)-2 record on the road. This is the first of four matchups between Nashville and Colorado in 2022-23 and the first of two at Ball Arena.
Nashville went 3-1-0 vs. Colorado last season, going 1-1-0 in two road contests, including a 5-4 overtime win in the second-to-last game of the regular season. The Preds have won 15 of their last 20 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.
Nashville and Colorado have met twice in the postseason, with the Predators earning a 4-2 series victory in the 2018 first round; Nashville was swept for the first time in franchise history in the 2022 first round.

Notables vs. 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 nine goals and 10 points in nine career games against his former team.
• Josi recorded a 12-game point streak vs. Colorado (5g-11a) from March 28, 2016-Jan. 21, 2019. He's recorded a point in 27 of his 38 career games against the Avalanche, tallying 13 goals and 37 points.
• Sissons posted a career-high three assists on Dec. 16, 2021 vs. the Avs. He has 14 points (8g-6a) in 19 career regular-season games vs. Colorado.
• Forsberg notched his fourth career hat trick on Feb. 23, 2017 vs. the Avalanche. He's averaged more than a point per game in his career against Colorado, recording 32 points (16g-16a) in 29 games, including five game-winning goals.
• Granlund skated in his first career NHL game and scored his first career NHL goal on Jan. 19, 2013 vs. Colorado.
• Zach Sanford recorded his second career NHL hat trick on Nov. 22, 2021 at Colorado.
• Jordan Gross spent the 2021-22 season with the Colorado organization, appearing in one NHL game with the Avalanche.
• Predators Assistant Coach Dan Hinote won the 2001 Stanley Cup as a player for the Avalanche.
• 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).

Last Time Out

Nashville moved to 3-4-0 on the road in 2022-23 with Tuesday's loss to Seattle. Forsberg scored his fifth goal of the season and moved into sole possession of third place on the team's all-time points list. Johansen, skating in his 800th career NHL game, went 11-for-14 in faceoffs, while Tanner Jeannot and Cole Smith shared the game high in hits (5).

Watch & Listen

Coverage for Saturday's game begins at 7:30 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.