Defenseman Ryan Ellis will return to the lineup for the Nashville Predators after missing a 5-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. Ellis injured his knee in a 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. "We understand what he brings to our team and every night he's one of our best players," defenseman P.K. Subban said. "Whenever we see him go down and he misses games, we can feel it, but it seems he just keeps finding ways to get back in the lineup." The Predators have allowed a goal late in the third period each of their past two games, giving up the game-winner with nine seconds left against the Canadiens and the go-ahead goal with 1:05 left against the Blackhawks. "Inside of those two games, I thought we played real good hockey games," coach Peter Laviolette said. "Right now, when you're sitting here in a position looking for points, we need to do a better job closing out those games." Nashville holds the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, four points ahead of the St. Louis Blues and five ahead of the Los Angeles Kings. "I think any coach that says he doesn't check the scores of the games each night is lying," Laviolette said. "I don't check the scores."
