Predators at Flames preview

PREDATORS (25-20-7) at FLAMES (27-21-6)
9 p.m. ET; SN1, FS-TN, NHL.TV

The defenseman, who has 27 points (five goals, 22 assists) in 54 games this season and leads Calgary in average ice time per game (23:57), was injured at 13:53 of the second period during a 3-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday when attempting to take a shot. The Calgary captain was placed on injured reserve Thursday.
The Flames, who look to avoid their third straight loss, are 2-4-1 in their past seven games and hold the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
The Predators, 4-2-0 in their past six games after going 3-6-1 in their previous 10, trail the Flames by three points in the wild card race but have played two fewer games.

Players to watch

Predators defenseman Roman Josi needs one point to become the second Switzerland-born player in NHL history to reach 400 points (Mark Streit, 434).
Flames center Elias Lindholm has four points (two goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak and leads Calgary with 22 goals.

They said it

"You know the implications of it, but at the same time you want to come in and play a smart, intense game. You don't want to put too much pressure on it that you're doing things out of character and you're not having the poise that you want. We want to play the game to the best of our ability and that's when you're nice and level mentally and emotionally." -- Predators center Matt Duchene
"Points matter. We need to do whatever it takes to get those valuable points. It wouldn't have been easy with [Giordano] and it's definitely not going to be easy without him. We just need to keep pushing and try to win some big games." -- Flames defenseman Michael Stone

Predators projected lineup

Matt Duchene -- Ryan Johansen -- Mikael Granlund
Filip Forsberg -- Kyle Turris -- Craig Smith
Rocco Grimaldi -- Nick Bonino -- Viktor Arvidsson
Yakov Trenin -- Colton Sissons -- Colin Blackwell
Roman Josi -- Dante Fabbro
Jarred Tinordi -- Mattias Ekholm
Dan Hamhuis -- Yannick Weber
Juuse Saros
Pekka Rinne
Scratched: Calle Jarnkrok, Austin Watson, Matt Irwin
Injured: Ryan Ellis (upper body)

Flames projected lineup

Andrew Mangiapane -- Elias Lindholm -- Matthew Tkachuk
Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Buddy Robinson
Tobias Rieder -- Mikael Backlund -- Sam Bennett
Milan Lucic -- Derek Ryan -- Dillon Dube
TJ Brodie -- Travis Hamonic
Noah Hanifin -- Rasmus Andersson
Oliver Kylington -- Michael Stone
Cam Talbot
David Rittich
Scratched: Mark Jankowski, Zac Rinaldo, Brandon Davidson
Injured: Mark Giordano (hamstring)

Status report

Saros will make his second straight start. … Davidson, a defenseman, was recalled from Stockton of the American Hockey League on Thursday but is not expected to play. He has no points in three games with the Flames this season.

Stat pack

Forsberg needs one goal to pass Martin Erat (163) for third in Nashville history. … Talbot is 6-2-1 with a 2.37 goals-against average and .932 save percentage in his past 11 games (nine starts).