Rinne, the 2018 Vezina Trophy winner, was activated from injured reserve Wednesday after missing five games with an undisclosed injury. Andrei Vasilevskiy, who finished third in Vezina Trophy voting behind Rinne and Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets), will start for the Lightning. Nashville and Tampa Bay have the two highest point totals in the NHL. The Lightning are 7-1-1 in their past nine games and the Predators are 7-2-0 in their past nine. The Lightning scored eight goals for the second time this season in an 8-3 win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. The Predators have scored at least four goals in six of their past eight games. Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman and forward Ondrej Palat will not play.
Players to watch
Nashville forward Viktor Arvidsson has seven points (two goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak. Tampa Bay forward Brayden Point had an NHL career high five points (one goal, four assists) Tuesday.
They said it
"You just try to go all out. We obviously know that they are one of the top teams from the East. It's a good challenge for our team and a good game for me to get back." -- Predators goalie Pekka Rinne. "We need to have a better start. They are not a team that's going to make it easy to come back on. That first goal is going to be huge." -- Lightning forward Tyler Johnson
Hedman was on the ice before the morning skate. … Rinaldo did not make the trip and is day to day. ...The Predators reassigned goalie Troy Grosenick to Milwaukee of the American Hockey League to make room for Rinne.
Stat pack
Vasilevskiy is 5-0-1 with a 2.15 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in his past six starts. ... Forsberg has six points (five goals, assists) in his past four games. ... Kucherov has seven points (four goals, three assists) in his past five games.
