Game Day: Devils vs. Preds Preview

With another Thanksgiving in the rearview, the Predators are back at Bridgestone Arena on this Gold Friday to conclude their three-game homestand with the New Jersey Devils in town - and a special 5 p.m. CT puck drop. This evening's contest is the first of two meetings between the clubs this season - Nashville will visit Newark in December.
The Preds have split their homestand to this point - a 3-2 win over Anaheim on Monday, followed by a 5-2 loss to Vegas on Wednesday - and the group would prefer to make up for an effort they weren't pleased with in their most recent outing.

"I think just the execution part," Preds forward Filip Forsberg said following the loss in regard to what needs to be better today. "Especially in the second period, we were turning a lot of pucks over, we're not executing passes on tape, and like I said, obviously it's a couple of individual mistakes that go the other way, and you can't let that happen against a team like this."
Forsberg returned to the Nashville lineup on Wednesday after missing nine games due to injury, and he tallied the only two goals on the night for the Preds, a welcome sign with a star winger back in the fold.
"He was good - I thought he had some good energy and obviously scored two nice goals… and he worked hard to get back, so it's nice to see him get back and get rewarded for hard work," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said of Forsberg. "I'm glad that he had a couple on the board, and I think there's some areas of his game that can be cleaned up, but I thought his energy and skating was good. [He] was firing the puck tonight, and that's a big strength of his, so that's a positive."
The Predators practiced on Thanksgiving but will not hold a morning skate today ahead of the 5 p.m. start time this evening.

The Good Guys:

Forsberg's effort was his first multi-goal game of the season, and he's now got six tallies in 10 outings.
Matt Duchene leads the Preds in scoring with 12 goals and 20 points, followed by Mikael Granlund (4g-15a) with 19 points and Roman Josi (6g-12a) with 18 points. Ryan Johansen also has six goals on the season to go along with 14 points, and Tanner Jeannot has found the back of the net five times. Juuse Saros, who took the loss on Wednesday night, is 8-7-1 with a .917 save percentage on the season.

The Opposition:

New Jersey has lost four of their last five outings, including a 3-2 defeat in the shootout against Minnesota on Wednesday. Jesper Bratt (4g-9a) leads the Devils in scoring with 13 points, followed by Pavel Zacha (8g-4a), Dawson Mercer (6g-6a) and Nico Hischier (2g-10a) with 12 points each. Former Preds defenseman P.K. Subban has one goal and nine points in 17 games. Mackenzie Blackwood is 3-1-2 in net for the Devils; Jonathan Bernier is 4-2-1 on the season.

All-Time Meetings:

The Predators are 16-9-(0)-6 all-time against the Devils, including a 6-5-(0)-5 record at Bridgestone Arena. Nashville and New Jersey last met on Jan. 30, 2020 at the Prudential Center, a 6-5 shootout victory for the Predators that featured two goals from Filip Forsberg and a tally from Matt Duchene.
Nashville hasn't lost in regulation to New Jersey since March 3, 2015, going 7-0-3 in that span. Since the start of the decade, the Preds are 10-3-4 against the Devils, grabbing points in 14 of their 17 meetings.
The Predators are 5-0-4 in their last nine home games against the Devils. Nashville has not lost in regulation to New Jersey on home ice since Jan. 19, 2009.

Notables Versus New Jersey:

Mattias Ekholm is on an eight-game point streak vs. New Jersey, picking up four goals and seven assists with a +8 rating. Roman Josi has 10 points (3g-7a) in his last nine games against the Devils. Mikael Granlund has 11 points (5g-6a) in 13 career games vs. New Jersey.
Matt Duchene has produced at a point-per-game pace in his career vs. the Devils, tallying seven goals and 19 points in 19 games. He has 10 points (4g-6a) in his last six meetings with New Jersey, including consecutive three-point efforts on Feb. 6, 2018 and Nov. 6, 2018.
Head Coach John Hynes served in the same position for the Devils from 2015-19, posting a 150-159-45 record. Devils defenseman P.K. Subban played three seasons in Nashville from 2016-19, tallying 130 points (35g-95a) in 211 games. Subban was a finalist for the Norris Trophy in 2018; he was traded to New Jersey on June 22, 2019.

Watch & Listen:

This evening's game will be
shown exclusively on ESPN+ & Hulu streaming services
with a 5 p.m. CT puck drop.
For more information on ESPN+ and Hulu, click here
. On the radio side, Pete Weber and Hal Gill will broadcast on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network. Pregame coverage on the radio begins at 4 p.m. with Darren McFarland. For broadcast information and channel locations throughout the region,
click here
.