Preview: Predators at Capitals

PREDATORS (34-24-11) at CAPITALS (45-17-7)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN, FS-TN, CSN-DC, NHL.TV

Predators team scope

The Nashville Predators are two points ahead of the St. Louis Blues for third place in the Central Division with 79 points and have earned a point in 10 of their past 12 games (7-2-3). Nashville has trailed by at least two goals in five of its past 14 games and has come back to win three of them. "Lately we've been playing pretty good," forward Filip Forsberg said. "We've been getting points in a lot of the games and obviously we had a huge, huge comeback win against Winnipeg (5-4 overtime win on Monday). We'll just try to take that with us into tonight's game. We obviously want to go out and take the lead. Especially at home they've been playing well, they've been scoring a lot of goals. So it's going to be a tough challenge for sure." Forward Colin Wilson will not play because of a lower-body injury; Kevin Fiala will replace him in the lineup. Goaltender Pekka Rinne will play in his 500th NHL game.

Capitals team scope

Washington Capitals defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk returns after serving a two-game suspension for charging Los Angeles Kings defenseman Kevin Gravel on Saturday. "I've just been trying to tell myself to make sure I'm playing the same way, not playing timid at all," Shattenkirk said. "More importantly, jump back in with these guys and give any sort of boost that I can. I felt good out there today, working with the guys again and work getting some power play reps in. I think tonight should be pretty seamless, the first couple shifts I have to make sure I keep it simple." Washington ended a four-game losing streak with a 4-2 win against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday and leads the Pittsburgh Penguins by two points for first place in the Metropolitan Division, Eastern Conference and NHL. Goaltender Braden Holtby, who leads the NHL with a 2.03 goals-against average and is fifth in save percentage (.926), will start.

Predators projected lineup

Filip Forsberg -- Ryan Johansen -- Viktor Arvidsson
Kevin Fiala -- Calle Jarnkrok -- James Neal
PA Parenteau -- Mike Fisher -- Craig Smith
Cody McLeod -- Colton Sissons -- Austin Watson
Roman Josi -- Ryan Ellis
Mattias Ekholm -- P.K. Subban
Matt Irwin - Yannick Weber
Pekka Rinne
Juuse Saros
Scratched:Vernon Fiddler, Brad Hunt, Anthony Bitetto
Injured:Miikka Salomaki (lower body), Colin Wilson (lower body)

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Marcus Johansson -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Justin Williams
Brett Connolly -- Lars Eller -- Jakub Vrana
Daniel Winnik -- Jay Beagle -- Tom Wilson
Karl Alzner -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched:Taylor Chorney, Nate Schmidt
Injured:Andre Burakovsky (hand)

Status report

Burakovsky is expected to take part in a full practice Friday, coach Barry Trotz said. Washington will then determine if he'll travel for the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

Who's hot

Forsberg has 18 points (12 goals, six assists) in his past 12 games. ... Johansen has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in his past 11 games. ... Neal has four points (two goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak. ... Josi has 14 points (two goals, 12 assists) in his past 12 games. ... Backstrom has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past six games.