Game Day: Preds at Capitals Preview

The Nashville Predators (17-14-6) will continue their five-game road trip against Eastern Conference opponents with a visit to the Washington Capitals (22-13-6) Friday at Capital One Arena.
The puck drops at 6 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 Thursday's game at Carolina:
Forsberg - Parssinen - Sissons
Jankowski - Johansen - Duchene
Niederreiter - Glass - Granlund
Trenin - Novak - Jeannot
McDonagh - Josi
Ekholm - Carrier
Lauzon - McKeown
Saros

The Good Guys

• Goaltender Juuse Saros was named to the Central Division's squad for the 2023 NHL All-Star Game on Thursday night. It is Saros' second career nod to the event, after he represented Nashville at the 2022 NHL All-Star Game in Las Vegas. He is the third goaltender in Predators history to represent the club at an NHL All-Star Game alongside Pekka Rinne (2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019) and Tomas Vokoun (2004). Saros made a franchise-record 64 saves on Thursday at Carolina. It was tied for the third-most saves in a regular-season game in NHL history, and was tied for the second-most in a regulation regular-season contest. (The NHL began tracking saves officially in 1955-56.) His 67 shots against were also the most in a game in Predators history.
• With his second of three goals on Saturday at Vegas, Filip Forsberg became the third player in franchise history to record 500 points, joining Roman Josi (570) and David Legwand (566). He became the quickest player in Predators history to reach the 500-point mark, doing so in his 601st career game. Forsberg was named the NHL's First Star of the Week for the week ending Jan. 1. Forsberg led the NHL in goals (5) and points (7) during the week and posted back-to-back three-point outings oa) in his last nine games. He scored in four straight contests from Dec. 17-23 (4g) and had a five-game point streak from Dec. 15-23 (4g-1a).
• Tommy Novak has six points (3g-3a) in eight games with Nashville since being recalled from Milwaukee (AHL) on Dec. 19.
• Matt Duchene has eight points (5g-3a) in his last nine games. He scored in four straight contests from Dec. 17-23 (4g) and had a five-game point streak from Dec. 15-23 (4g-1a).

The Other Guys

Friday's game will also be the second half of a back-to-back set for the Capitals, who are coming off a 6-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. It was Washington's seventh consecutive road win, setting a franchise record.
Alex Ovechkin leads Washington with 48 points (29g-19a). His 29 goals are also a team high. Evgeny Kuznetzov paces the team with 30 assists. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper is tied for first in the NHL with three shutouts, including Oct. 29 at Bridgestone Arena.

All-Time Meetings

The Predators are 17-12-(1)-4 all-time against the Capitals, including a 7-7-(0)-2 record on the road. This is the second and final matchup between Nashville and Washington in 2022-23 and the first and only at Capital One Arena.
Nashville is 0-1-0 against Washington this season, dropping a 3-0 decision at home on Oct. 29. The Predators are 2-3-0 in their last five games against the Capitals; they are 7-3-0 in their last 10 and 4-1-0 in their last five on the road.

Notables vs. Washington

• Filip Forsberg has 16 points (8g-8a) in 14 career games against the team that drafted him 11th overall in the 2012 NHL Draft. Forsberg was acquired from Washington for Martin Erat and Michael Latta on April 3, 2013.
• Ryan Johansen has produced at a point-per-game pace against the Capitals in his career, registering 25 points (9g-16a) in 25 career contests. He recorded five consecutive multi-point outings vs. Washington from April 5, 2018-Jan. 29, 2020.
• Roman Josi recorded a seven-game point streak (4g-5a) against Washington from Feb. 9, 2016-Dec. 31, 2018. He has 14 points (5g-9a) in 17 career games vs. the Caps.
• Nino Niederreiter scored his first career NHL goal on Oct. 13, 2010 at Washington.
• Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile spent his first 15 years as an NHL GM at the helm of the Capitals from 1982-97.
• Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette spent parts of six seasons as head coach of the Predators from 2014-20, going 248-143-60 in 451 games. Capitals Assistant Coach Kevin McCarthy also served in the same position with the Predators on Laviolette's staff.
• Capitals defenseman Matt Irwin spent parts of four seasons with the Predators from 2016-20, tallying 31 points (6g-25a) in 195 games.

Last Time Out

Nashville improved to 8-8-3 on the road in 2022-23 with Thursday's 5-3 win at Carolina. The Predators allowed a franchise-high 67 shots on goal, and the 28 shots allowed in the third period were their most given up in a single period in team history.
Saros made a franchise-record 64 saves in the win and was selected to the 2023 NHL All-Star Game during the contest. Juuso Parssinen led the Predators with two points (2a), while five different skaters scored Nashville's five goals. Forsberg opened the scoring on the power play in the first period, giving the Predators a goal on the man advantage for the fourth straight game. Mark Jankowski scored his second game-winning goal of the season.

Watch & Listen

Coverage for Thursday's game begins at 5:30 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.