Game Day: Preds at Sharks Preview

The Nashville Predators (27-22-6) kick off a West Coast swing with a visit to the San Jose Sharks (18-29-11) on Thursday at SAP Center.
The puck drops at 9:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio. Here's everything you need to know:

Line 'Em Up

Below are Nashville's lines from Tuesday vs. Vancouver:
Granlund - Johansen - Duchene
Niederreiter - Novak - Parssinen
Trenin - Glass - Tomasino
Smith - Sissons - Jeannot
McDonagh - Josi
Ekholm - Lauzon
Gravel - Fabbro
Saros

Last Time Out

Nashville improved to 16-10-3 at home in 2022-23 with Tuesday's win over the Vancouver Canucks. The Predators are now 2-0-0 against the Canucks this season, with both wins coming in a shootout. Nashville moved to 7-6 in overtime/shootouts this season (4-5 in OT; 3-1 in shootout).
Ten different Predators skaters had a point, led by Juuso Parssinen's two (2a). Philip Tomasino scored his first goal of the season on the power play, and Niino Niederreiter scored his 16th goal of the season and second in as many games. Mikael Granlund scored his first goal since Jan. 26 vs. New Jersey, and Matt Duchene tallied the game-deciding goal in the shootout.

All-Time Meetings

The Predators are 42-29-(2)-8 all-time against the Sharks, including a 16-17-(1)-6 record on the road. This is the third and final matchup between Nashville and San Jose in 2022-23 and the first and only at the SAP Center.

Nashville is 2-0-0 against San Jose this season, earning back-to-back wins on Oct. 7-8 at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czechia, as part of the 2022 NHL Global Series. The Predators are 5-0-0 in their last five games against the Sharks and currently on a nine-game point streak against San Jose (8-0-1) that began on March 16, 2019; the Preds have not allowed more than two goals against in a single game during the streak, recording two shutouts.
The Predators defeated the Sharks, 8-0, on March 5, 2022, marking the largest margin of victory in a road game in franchise history.

Notables vs. San Jose

• Roman Josi has 23 points (6g-17a) in 30 career games against the Sharks, including four points (4g) on March 5, 2022.
• Duchene has 11 points (7g-4a) in his last 11 games against San Jose. He made his NHL debut on Oct. 1, 2009 vs. San Jose.
• Filip Forsberg is averaging a point per game vs. San Jose, posting 23 points (9g-14a) in 23 contests.
• Tomasino recorded a career-high three points (3a) on March 5, 2022 at San Jose.
• Mattias Ekholm scored his first career NHL goal vs. San Jose on Jan. 7, 2014.
• San Jose's Matt Benning (2020-22), Nick Bonino (2017-20) and Luke Kunin (2020-22) are former Predators players.

The Good Guys

• Goaltender Juuse Saros is 18-10-4 with a 2.66 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in his last 32 games dating back to Nov. 12. His 18 wins in that time frame are tied for the fourth-most in the NHL. Additionally, Saros owns an 18.02 goals saved above average (GSAA) since Nov. 12, the fourth-best mark in the League (per Natural Stat Trick). GSAA measures the goals a goalie prevented given his save percentage and shots faced vs. the NHL average save percentage on the same number of shots.
• Josi owns the Predators team lead in points with 50 (15g-35a). He has 46 points (14g-32a) in his last 46 games after tallying an assist on Tuesday vs. Vancouver. Josi has recorded at least one point in 18 of his last 22 contests, and he posted a season-high six-game point streak from Jan. 21-Feb. 13 (1g-7a). He has six points (2g-4a) in his last three games, including consecutive multi-point efforts on Saturday vs. Florida (1g-2a) and Sunday at Minnesota (1g-1a). On Tuesday, Josi became the second active defenseman to have seven career 50-point seasons, joining San Jose's Erik Karlsson (7).
• Duchene has 22 points (11g-11a) in his last 27 games, including his first multi-goal game of the season on Jan. 24 vs. Los Angeles. He's recorded points in six of his last 10 games (6g-3a), tallying multiple points in three of those outings.
• Tommy Novak has 17 points (7g-10a) in 24 games with Nashville since being recalled from Milwaukee (AHL) on Dec. 19. He recorded his first career multi-goal game on Saturday vs. Florida (2g) and followed it up with a season-high three points on Sunday at Minnesota (1g-2a).

The Other Guys

San Jose enters Thursday's game coming off a 4-0 shutout of the Seattle Kraken. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Sharks, who have won four of their last 10 games and have a 6-14-7 record at home this season.
Karlsson leads all NHL defensemen in points (76), goals (18) and assists (58). His 76 points and 58 assists are also team highs. Timo Meier leads the Sharks with 31 goals.

Watch & Listen

Coverage for Thursday's game begins at 9 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on Bally Sports South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and analyst Chris Mason will have the call on the television side.
Max Herz and Hal Gill will call the game on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network. The game will also be broadcast in Spanish on El Jefe which airs on 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM and 810 AM.