Devils at Predators preview

DEVILS (11-13-6) at PREDATORS (21-10-1)
8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, MSG, NHL.TV

Hall did not play in a 5-4 overtime win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday because of lower-body soreness. New Jersey is 2-4-4 in its past 10 games and has allowed at least four goals in nine of those games.
The Predators, seeking their third straight win and fifth victory in seven games (4-2-0), trail the Winnipeg Jets by one point for first place in the Central Division.
Goalie Juuse Saros is expected to start for Nashville; he has allowed at least four goals each of his past four starts and has allowed at least three goals in seven of his past eight starts.

Players to watch

Devils forward Kyle Palmieri has six points (five goals, one assist) in a four-game point streak.
Predators defenseman Roman Josi has five assists in a five-game point streak.

They said it

"I think just stick with it. It was a tough start, but we were on them all night long, I think. And we kept going and got rewarded. Those wins feel even better." -- Devils center Nico Hischier on coming back from three goals down to defeat the Golden Knights
"I'm going to be perfectly honest, I think we've played lousy in front of [Saros]. There's got to be accountability to the 18 guys who go out in front of him. There's just too many odd-man rushes, too many point-blank chances, and that's got to stop. And when that stops, he's going to feel better and look better in there. It's just, there's too much coming at him." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette on goalie Juuse Saros

Devils projected lineup

Marcus Johansson -- Nico Hischier -- Kyle Palmieri
John Quenneville -- Pavel Zacha -- Jesper Bratt
Blake Coleman -- Travis Zajac -- Miles Wood
Brian Boyle -- Brett Seney -- Drew Stafford
Andy Greene -- Damon Severson
Will Butcher -- Sami Vatanen
Mirco Mueller -- Ben Lovejoy
Keith Kinkaid
Cory Schneider
Scratched: Egor Yakovlev
Injured:Joey Anderson (broken ankle), Stefan Noesen (illness), Taylor Hall (soreness)

Predators projected lineup

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

Status report

The Devils did not hold a morning skate. … Rinaldo skated on the fourth line with Salomaki, Gaudreau and Grimaldi during the morning skate but is expected to be a healthy scratch.

Stat pack

Hischier has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past seven games. … Ekholm has three assists in a three-game point streak.