Predators at Flames preview

PREDATORS (19-9-1) at FLAMES (18-9-2)
10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, SN360, SN1, CITY, FS-TN, NHL.TV

Goalie Mike Smith will try for his sixth straight victory for the Flames, who are first in the Pacific Division and 8-1-1 in their past 10 games. Smith is 5-0-0 with a 1.50 goals-against average, .939 save percentage and one shutout in his past five games.
Goalie Juuse Saros will start for the Predators, who lead the Central Division with the Colorado Avalanche and are 2-3-0 in their past five games. Saros is 7-4-0 with a 3.29 goals-against average and .889 save percentage this season.

Players to watch

Nashville forward Ryan Johansen has four points (one goal, three assists) in a three-game point streak and leads the team with 25 points (five goals, 20 assists).
Calgary forward Johnny Gaudreau has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in a six-game point streak, and 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in the past 10 games.

They said it

"Every team goes through injuries and needs guys to step up. The guys on our team have done a really great job taking bigger roles and more responsibility." -- Predators defenseman Roman Josi
"There's injuries and suspensions. You see it all the time. We've been lucky to stay away from too many crazy injuries. At this point a couple bodies drop out but we have a lot of depth here with this team, this organization."-- Flames forward Derek Ryan

Predators projected lineup

Ryan Hartman -- Ryan Johansen -- Kevin Fiala
Calle Jarnkrok -- Nick Bonino -- Craig Smith
Miikka Salomaki -- Colton Sissons -- Austin Watson
Zac Rinaldo -- Frederick Gaudreau -- Rocco Grimaldi
Roman Josi -- Ryan Ellis
Dan Hamhuis -- Mattias Ekholm
Anthony Bitetto -- Yannick Weber
Juuse Saros
Pekka Rinne
Scratched: Eeli Tolvanen, Matt Irwin
Injured: Viktor Arvidsson (broken thumb), P.K. Subban (upper body), Kyle Turris (undisclosed), Filip Forsberg (upper body)

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Elias Lindholm
Matthew Tkachuk -- Derek Ryan -- Sam Bennett
Andrew Mangiapane -- Mark Jankowski -- James Neal
Austin Czarnik -- Alan Quine -- Garnet Hathaway
Noah Hanifin -- Travis Hamonic
TJ Brodie -- Rasmus Andersson
Oliver Kylington -- Dalton Prout
Mike Smith
David Rittich
Scratched:None
Injured: Mikael Backlund (upper body), Michael Frolik (lower body), Juuso Valimaki (lower body), Michael Stone (blood clot)
Suspended: Ryan Lomberg, Mark Giordano

Status report

Giordano will serve the first of a two-game suspension for kneeing Minnesota Wild forward Mikko Koivu in a 2-0 win on Thursday. … Lomberg will serve the first of a two-game suspension for leaving the bench on a legal line change for the purpose of starting a fight. … Backlund is expected to miss at least the next two games because of an upper-body injury sustained against Minnesota. … Quine will make his season debut.

Stat pack

Fiala has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past three games. …Monahan has seven points (four goals, three assists) in the past four games. …Lindholm has nine points (four goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak.