Game Day: Preds at Blue Jackets Preview

The final road game of the 2020-21 regular season has arrived, and the Predators could be heading home happy for multiple reasons.
Nashville will face the Columbus Blue Jackets for the eighth and final time this season, and this evening could mark win No. 7 for the Preds against the Jackets. That potential, coupled with a regulation loss by the Dallas Stars against the Tampa Bay Lightning would see the Predators clinch the fourth and final playoff spot in the Central Division.
Of course, the Predators will be focused on their own contest, and after surrendering a three-goal lead in the third period of Monday's game in Columbus before eventually winning by a 4-3 final in overtime, Nashville will be looking for a more consistent effort away from home.
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"This is the best time of the year," Preds forward Filip Forsberg said following Monday's win. "This is great. You want to be in these nice, tight games, you want to play these games and they mean so much. There's a couple things that we definitely can tighten up for the next game on Wednesday. We can't sit back too much in the third and let them attack a little bit more. We'll definitely look at it tomorrow and be ready for Wednesday."

The Predators held meetings and off-ice workouts on Tuesday in Columbus. Preds forward Colton Sissons did not play on Monday in Columbus and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Forward Nick Cousins, who missed Saturday's game due to a non-COVID illness, returned to the lineup alongside Erik Haula and Matt Duchene. Brad Richardson took Sissons's center spot on the fourth line between Yakov Trenin and Tanner Jeannot.
Update: Following Wednesday's morning skate, Preds Head Coach John Hynes said both Sissons and defenseman Dante Fabbro (day-to-day) are possibilities to play tonight in Columbus.

The Good Guys:
Roman Josi scored twice, including the game-winner in OT, while Forsberg and Ryan Johansen also converted in Monday's win against the Blue Jackets. Goaltender Juuse Saros recorded his 20th win of the season, the first time he's reached the 20-win mark in his career.
The Predators have earned a point in 19 of their last 25 games (18-6-1), a stretch that started with a 4-1 victory at Tampa Bay on March 15. In that time span, Nashville's 18 wins are tied for the most in the NHL with Colorado and Vegas. Since March 15, Nashville leads the NHL in team save percentage (.937) and goals against per game (2.12) and is seventh in penalty kill percentage (85.7 percent).
Josi leads the Preds in scoring with 33 points (8g-25a), followed by Forsberg with 31 points (12g-19a) and Calle Jarnkrok with 26 points (12g-14a) Mikael Granlund leads the Predators with 13 goals on the season, Eeli Tolvanen has 11 and Viktor Arvidsson has 10. Saros is 20-10-1 in net for Nashville; Pekka Rinne is 9-12-1.
The Opposition:
Columbus has at least a point in each of their last four outings, including a pair of overtime losses in the two most recent games. Emil Bemstrom had a natural hat trick for the Blue Jackets in the third period on Monday night.
Oliver Bjorkstrand leads the Jackets with 39 points (15g-24a), followed by Jack Roslovic with 32 points (10g-22a) and Cam Atkinson with 31 points (14g-17a). Elvis Merzlikins, who took the loss on Monday, is 7-12-5 in net for Columbus; Joonas Korpisalo is 9-13-7 on the season.
All-Time Meetings:
The Predators are 65-21-(1)-7 all-time against the Blue Jackets, including a 26-15-(0)-4 record on the road. Nashville is 6-1-0 against Columbus this season, including wins in four straight games. In addition to Monday's 4-3 OT win, the Preds swept their two-game set against the Blue Jackets to open the 2020-21 campaign, earned a 4-2 victory on the road on Feb. 20 and won back-to-back contests on Feb. 27-28 in Nashville.
The Preds have earned at least a point in 12 of their last 14 games versus the Blue Jackets (11-2-1), including wins in seven of their last eight. Nashville and Columbus were both part of the Central Division from the 2000-01 season through the 2012-13 season.
Notables Versus Columbus:
Filip Forsberg notched his fifth career hat trick on April 7, 2018, versus Columbus. He has 16 points (8g-8a) in 19 career meetings with the Blue Jackets, including points in seven of his last nine games. Mattias Ekholm has three points (2g-1a) in his last four games versus Columbus; following his two-goal performance on Feb. 27, he now has 10 points (5g-5a) in 17 career meetings with the Blue Jackets.
In addition to posting 19 points (7g-12a) in 34 career games against Columbus, Matt Duchene played in 23 games for Nashville's new Central Division foe in 2018-19, recording 12 points (4g-8a). Roman Josi has picked up 17 points (4g-13a) in 28 contests against the Blue Jackets, including a two-goal effort on Monday.
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for this evening's 6 p.m. CT puck drop from Columbus begins at 5:30 p.m. CT with the Predators Live! pregame show on Bally Sports South hosted by Lyndsay Rowley and Terry Crisp. Willy Daunic, Chris Mason and Kara Hammer have the call on the television side, while Pete Weber and Hal Gill will broadcast on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network. Pregame coverage on the radio begins at 5 p.m. For broadcast information and channel locations throughout the country,
click here
.
Streaming Info:
Listen to a Live Radio Feed
(only active during the game broadcast window).
Watch a Live Stream of the game
on the Bally Sports App or
Watch on NHL.TV