Predators at Coyotes preview

PREDATORS (23-11-5) at COYOTES (9-27-5)
9 p.m. ET; FS-A, FS-TN, NHL.TV

Arizona is 1-3-0 in its past four games and 2-9-1 in its past 12. However, the Coyotes are 5-1-1 against Nashville at home since the start of the 2012-13 season. Nashville hasn't won in regulation in Arizona since a 5-1 victory on Dec. 11, 2014.
Nashville is 2-4-1 in its past seven games after going 6-0-1 in its previous seven. The Predators said Wednesday that forward Filip Forsberg will miss 4-6 weeks with an upper-body injury sustained in a 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 29.

Players to watch

Predators defenseman P.K. Subban has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past three games and 11 points (five goals, six assists) in his past 10.
Coyotes forward Clayton Keller has nine points (three goals, six assists) in an eight-game point streak, the longest by an Arizona rookie since the team moved from Winnipeg in 1996.

They said it

"He's really a guy who takes on all situations and all minutes. Those are tough losses." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette on the injury to Filip Forsberg
"I look at the standings just like everybody else and it [stinks], but for me, I look at it like the tip of the iceberg. It's the part that shows, but underneath, over the last 18 months here, we've done a lot of good things." -- general manager John Chayka on the Coyotes' 9-27-5 record at the halfway point of the season

Predators projected lineup

Calle Jarnkrok -- Ryan Johansen -- Viktor Arvidsson
Kevin Fiala -- Kyle Turris -- Craig Smith
Scott Hartnell -- Nick Bonino -- Colton Sissons
Cody McLeod -- Austin Watson -- Miikka Salomaki
Ryan Ellis -- Roman Josi
Mattias Ekholm -- P.K. Subban
Alexei Emelin -- Yannick Weber
Pekka Rinne
Juuse Saros
Scratched: Matt Irwin, Anthony Bitetto
Injured: Filip Forsberg (upper body)

Coyotes projected lineup

Brendan Perlini -- Derek Stepan -- Tobias Rieder
Clayton Keller -- Max Domi -- Christian Fischer
Lawson Crouse -- Christian Dvorak -- Josh Archibald
Jordan Martinook -- Nick Cousins -- Anthony Duclair
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Jason Demers
Jakob Chychrun -- Alex Goligoski
Kevin Connauton -- Luke Schenn
Antti Raanta
Scott Wedgewood
Scratched:Kyle Capobianco, Freddie Hamilton
Injured:Niklas Hjalmarsson (upper body), Brad Richardson (upper body)
Suspended: Zac Rinaldo

Status report

Subban was voted by fans as captain of the Central Division All-Star team for the second consecutive season. … Hjalmarsson and Richardson practiced Tuesday and Wednesday. Coach Rick Tocchet said each is close to returning but neither will play against the Predators. ... The Coyotes claimed forward Freddie Hamilton off waivers from the Calgary Flames on Thursday and sent forward Mario Kempe to Tucson of the American Hockey League.

Stat pack

Fiala has no points in his past five games after getting eight goals and four assists during a nine-game point streak. … Goligoski has six points (goal, five assists) in his past six games. ... Stepan has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past four games.