Predators at Red Wings preview

PREDATORS (24-15-2) at RED WINGS (15-20-7)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-D, SN, FS-TN, NHL.TV

The Red Wings went 3-8-4 in 15 games without Mantha, who hasn't played since injuring his hand Dec. 2. Detroit will look to avoid its second seven-game losing streak of the season; they began the season 0-5-2. The Red Wings have gone 0-4-2 in their past six games allowing five goals in four of them.
The Predators have outscored opponents 10-3 in their past two wins after scoring 10 goals in a six-game losing streak (0-5-1).

Players to watch

Predators forward Ryan Johansen has four points (one goal, three assists) in his past two games.
Red Wings center Dylan Larkin has 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in his past 15 games.

They said it

"I'm getting there. Am I pleased with the way I've played? Not really, but I guess you expect a little bit of rust when you've missed that much time. I'm just trying to build back up and help the team wherever I can right now." -- Predators defenseman P.K. Subban on returning from an upper-body injury
"I feel great. I've had an extra month to work on my skating, and that's a positive, even though it is 15 games missed. It's almost like an extra month of summer training, as long as my timing comes back pretty quick." -- Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha

Predators projected lineup

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

Red Wings projected lineup

Gustav Nyquist -- Dylan Larkin -- Justin Abdelkader
Thomas Vanek -- Frans Nielsen -- Anthony Mantha
Darren Helm -- Tyler Bertuzzi -- Andreas Athanasiou
Michael Rasmussen -- Jacob de la Rose -- Luke Glendening
Niklas Kronwall -- Filip Hronek
Nick Jensen -- Dennis Cholowski
Jonathan Ericsson -- Luke Witkowski
Jimmy Howard
Jonathan Bernier
Scratched: Martin Frk, Brian Lashoff, Christoffer Ehn
Injured: Evgeny Svechnikov (knee surgery), Danny DeKeyser (hand), Mike Green (lower body), Trevor Daley (foot)

Status report

Di Giuseppe could make his Predators debut after being claimed on waivers from Carolina on Tuesday. … Mantha skated with Vanek and Nielsen in practice on Thursday. He normally plays with Larkin and Abdelkader on the first line.

Stat pack

Vanek will be playing in his 1,000th NHL game.