The No. 1 team in the NHL hosts No. 2 on Monday night at Bridgestone Arena.

The Predators (14-5-1) sit atop the NHL standings based on their higher ROW (regulation/overtime wins) compared to the Lightning (14-5-1).

Nashville won their first game of a three-game homestand, 5-3 over the Los Angeles Kings, to snap a three-game skid (0-2-1). They also topped the Lightning, 4-1 in Tampa Bay, during the teams' first meeting of the season on Nov. 1.

The Lightning lost a 5-1 lead in the third period in Philadelphia on Saturday but won in overtime. The Bolts are without starting goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (IR). 

The Predators held a full morning skate on Monday. Below is a projected lineup based on the session:

The top two teams in the NHL standings meet tonight in Nashville as the Predators host the Tampa Bay Lightning. The season series between the two concludes this evening; the Preds topped the Bolts 4-1 back on November 1.

After an 0-2-1 skid, the Predators bounced back on Saturday night, as they defeated the Los Angeles Kings by a 5-3 final, thanks predominantly to Calle Jarnkrok's first-career hat trick. Nashville also recorded two power-play goals as they look to improve that facet of their game.

"You're starting to wonder if it's just not going to work for you for a little bit here," Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said of the man advantage. "I have to give our guys in the room a lot of credit, because we fell behind a few times, but we just stayed persistent and consistent with our game and didn't stop."

[Read More: Preds Projected Lineup vs. Lightning]

[Preds Official Podcast: Power Plays, Adversity and Thanksgiving]

There's no place like home. Especially with hats on the ice.

Calle Jarnkrok recorded his first-career hat trick, and the Nashville Predators came back to defeat the Los Angeles Kings by a 5-3 final on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result breaks a three-game winless streak for the Preds and gives them their 14th victory of the season, tied for the most wins in the NHL.

Although the Preds fell to Arizona in their last game, the effort was there, and the hope was to build off it after returning to Nashville from a five-game trip. With a pair of power-play goals and 43 shots on the net, that's exactly what happened.

And Jarnkrok added the exclamation point.

The Nashville Predators return from a five-game trip to begin a stretch of eight of nine games at home into December. 

The Preds (13-5-1) went more than a month without losing two games in a row, but have currently dropped their last three (0-2-1). Nashville will be without Viktor Arvidsson (Injured Reserve; 6-8 week recovery) and P.K. Subban (IR) tonight. They did get Dan Hamhuis, Calle Jarnkrok and Austin Watson back on the ice for Thursday's 2-1 loss in Arizona. 

Los Angeles (6-11-1) won last night in Chicago, prior to traveling to Nashville. The Kings are 2-3-0 in their last five under interm head coach Willie Desjardins. 

Nashville held a full morning skate on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena. Below is a projected lineup based on the session:

After losing Viktor Arvidsson and P.K. Subban to injury, the Predators are challenged with staying in the upper echelon of the NHL and getting their power play on track. Preds Assistant GM Jeff Kealty joins the show to talk Eeli Tolvanen, scouting and what's next for the team. Plus, Thomas Willis and Brooks Bratten share their Thanksgiving side dish power rankings. 

Highlights Include: 

• Preds finish five-game trip at 2-2-1
• Who should take Arvidsson's spot on the first line?
• Will the power play get back on track soon?
• Interview with Preds Assistant GM Jeff Kealty
• Ranking Thanksgiving side dishes
• Answering your Twitter questions
• Giveaway opportunity of autographed USA Hockey hats; listen to see how to enter!

Visit NashvillePredators.com/Podcast to subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, iHeartRadio, Spotify and others.

The Predators return to Nashville tonight after a five-game trip to start a three-game homestand of their own, beginning with the Los Angeles Kings. It's the first of three meetings between the two clubs this season; the second comes in February before the finale in March.

Nashville is looking to get back in the win column after dropping three straight for the first time this season. The Preds began their road trip with wins in Colorado and Dallas before falling to the Ducks in a shootout, and then suffering regulation losses in San Jose on Tuesday and Arizona on Thursday.

The Predators managed to register 46 shots against the Coyotes in their last outing, and although two points ultimately eluded them, they'll look to build off that effort tonight against the Kings.

[Read More: Preds Projected Lineup vs. Kings]

[Preds Official Podcast: First Adversity, Then Thanksgiving]

Yes, I'm aware the Predators' power play is currently clicking at 10.8 percent. Perhaps you've heard some discussion about it? And yes, head coach Peter Laviolette and the Predators are aware of it as well. Trust me, they are working on it.

Hardly any discussion of the team's performance goes by without a mention of this issue. And in addition to trying to work on the physical part of the solution, it becomes a mental hurdle as well. The Predators will persevere and continue to search for a breakthrough.

However, this is not the only facet of the game. The power-play issues have overshadowed the statistical strength of the team's success: 5-on-5 play. Special teams can be a difference maker, but the bulk of the game is played 5-on-5. Despite the team's current three-game skid, Nashville has dominated their opponents this season 5-on-5, particularly defensively.

Ryan Johansen knew something was wrong.

However, it was Game 4 of the 2017 Western Conference Final, and he wasn't about to excuse himself from the situation. But afterward in the locker room, Nashville's star centerman couldn't even lift up his leg, particularly his thigh, which had ballooned up to a size indicative of a serious problem.

Johansen was rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center on that May night, undergoing emergency surgery for acute compartment syndrome of the left thigh.

A whopping 46 shots on net just aren't supposed to equal only one goal.

Yet that's where the Nashville Predators found themselves after managing to solve Coyotes' netminder Darcy Kuemper just a single time during a 2-1 loss in Arizona on Thursday night at Gila River Arena. The defeat is Nashville's third consecutive and their second straight in regulation to conclude their five-game trip at 2-2-1.

In the previous two games on the excursion - a shootout loss in Anaheim, followed by a 5-4 defeat in San Jose - the Predators said they didn't deserve to win. Thursday was a different story, but sometimes, that's just the way it goes in the NHL.

The Predators will have to make their way without Viktor Arvidsson for the next six to eight weeks.

It was announced Wednesday the star winger will be out of the lineup, likely until the calendar flips to 2019, due to a broken thumb suffered last weekend in Dallas. It's a big blow for the Preds to lose Arvidsson who, along with Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen, helps to make up one of the more formidable trios in the NHL.

But just as the Predators have done before without top players available to them, they feel confident in the remaining members of the brigade to make up for the loss.