Game Day: Preds vs. Kings Preview

The Nashville Predators (21-18-6) will host the Los Angeles Kings (25-16-6) tonight for Saturday Night in Smashville at Bridgestone Arena.
The puck drops at 7 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 St. Louis:
Forsberg - Glass - Duchene
Niederreiter - Johansen - Granlund
Smith - Parssinen - Sissons
Trenin - Novak - Jeannot
McDonagh - Josi
Ekholm - Carrier
Lauzon - Fabbro
Saros

The Good Guys

• Goaltender Juuse Saros was named to the Central Division's squad for the 2023 NHL All-Star Game in Sunrise, Fla., on Feb. 4. Saros owns a 19.75 goals saved above average (GSAA) since Nov. 12, the 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.
• Filip Forsberg has 35 points (16g-19a) in his last 38 games dating back to Oct. 22 vs. Philadelphia. He became the quickest player in Predators history to reach the 500-point mark, doing so in his 601st career game Dec. 31 at Vegas. He has nine goals and 12 points in his last 10 games, including goals in three straight games from Jan. 9-12 (3g). He's up to 34 career three-point games, the most in Predators history.
• Roman Josi has 32 points (11g-21a) in his last 36 games after tallying an assist on Tuesday vs. Columbus. Josi has recorded at least one point in nine of his last 11 contests, and he is currently on a four-game point streak (2g-2a).
• Juuso Parssinen posted a seven-game point streak from Jan. 5-16 (2g-7a), tied for the longest by a rookie in franchise history with Forsberg, who did so from Oct. 31-Nov. 13, 2014 (7g-6a). Parssinen's six-game assist streak (7a) from Jan. 5-14 is the longest by a rookie in Predators history. His 18 points since Nov. 12 - his NHL debut - are tied for the third-most among NHL rookies in that time span.
• Colton Sissons leads the NHL in shorthanded faceoffs won (94).
• Matt Duchene has 13 points (5g-8a) in his last 17 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

The Kings have lost their last two contests, including a 4-0 shutout loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday. They are currently in third place in the Pacific Division with 56 points.
Former Predator Kevin Fiala leads the Kings with 47 points (16g-31a), while Adrian Kempe has scored a team-high 18 goals. Goaltender Jonathan Quick has recorded seven straight losses; his last win came on Dec. 1 over Arizona

All-Time Meetings

The Predators are 39-28-(3)-9 all-time against the Kings, including a 17-15-(3)-3 record at Bridgestone Arena. This is the second of three matchups between Nashville and Los Angeles in 2022-23 and the second and final at home.
Nashville is 0-0-1 against Los Angeles this season, dropping a 4-3 decision in a shootout on Oct. 18. The game saw Cody Glass open the scoring for Nashville, his first goal with the Predators.
Nashville has not lost to Los Angeles in regulation at home since Dec. 22, 2016, a five-game span. Overall, the Predators have lost only three times in regulation to the Kings in their last 24 meetings (14-3-7), with Nashville having won nine of 12.

Notables vs. Los Angeles

• Duchene owns 23 points (8g-15a) in 29 career games vs. the Kings, including multi-point efforts in two of his last six contests.
• Josi has tallied 22 points (5g-17a) in 28 career games vs. the Kings, including 11 points (1g-10a) in his last nine meetings against Los Angeles.
• Forsberg has eight points (3g-5a) in his last 11 contests against Los Angeles, and 12 points (4g-8a) in 22 career games vs. the Kings. He matched his career high for shots in a game for the third time with nine on Oct. 12, 2019 at Los Angeles.
• Tommy Novak made his NHL debut on Oct. 19, 2021 vs. Los Angeles.
• Predators Defense Development Coach Rob Scuderi won the 2012 Stanley Cup as a member of the Kings.
• Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson played in 387 games for Nashville from 2014-21, tallying 241 points (128g-113a).
• Fiala recorded 97 points (45g-52a) in 204 games with the Predators from 2015-19.

Last Time Out

Nashville moved to 10-11-3 on the road in 2022-23 with Thursday's loss to St. Louis. The Predators are now 1-1-1 against the Blues this season.
Sissons, skating in his 500th career NHL game, scored to give him eight points (4g-4a) in his last 12 games. Mattias Ekholm scored his fifth goal of the season to give him nine points (4g-5a) in his last 16 appearances.

Watch & Listen

Coverage for Saturday's game begins at 6:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on Bally Sports South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley alongside analyst Hal Gill. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and analyst Chris Mason will have the call on the television side.
Pete Weber and Jay More 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.