Game Day: Preds vs. Devils Preview

The Nashville Predators (23-18-6) will host the New Jersey Devils (31-12-4) on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena for their final game before the NHL All-Star Break.
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 Tuesday's game vs. Winnipeg:
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 21.98 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 leads all Predators skaters with 18 goals. He has 36 points (16g-20a) in his last 40 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's up to 34 career three-point games, the most in Predators history.
• Roman Josi (12g-28a) is tied with Forsberg (18g-22a) for the team lead in points with 40. Josi has 36 points (11g-25a) in his last 38 games after tallying an assist in Tuesday's win over Winnipeg. His 28 assists are the most by a single Predators skater this season, and his 40 points are also the ninth-most among all NHL defensemen.
• Matt Duchene has 15 points (7g-8a) in his last 19 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).
• Cody Glass owns 14 points (5g-9a) in his last 21 games, including a goal on Tuesday vs. Winnipeg. Glass has found the scoresheet in five of his last seven contests, posting six points (2g-4a) during that time span. The 23-year-old center has established career highs in goals (6), assists (11) and points (17) this season.

The Other Guys

The Devils are in second place in the Metropolitan Division and enter Thursday's game on a two-game win streak, most recently earning a 3-2 overtime victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. New Jersey's last four games dating back to Jan. 16 have gone to overtime or a shootout, with the Devils winning three of those four. New Jersey has not lost in regulation since Jan. 5 vs. St. Louis. The Devils also own the best road record in the NHL at 18-2-2 (.818).
Jack Hughes leads the Devils with 60 points (30g-30a), including eight points in his last five games (2g-6a). His 30 goals and 30 assists are also team highs in both categories and rank in the top-10 among all NHL skaters. Vitek Vanecek ranks sixth among all NHL goaltenders with a goals-against average of 2.30.

All-Time Meetings

The Predators are 16-8-(1)-6 all-time against the Devils, including a 9-1-(1)-4 record at Bridgestone Arena. This is the second and final matchup between Nashville and New Jersey in 2022-23 and the first and only at home.
Nashville is 1-0-0 against New Jersey this season, earning a dramatic 4-3 overtime win in Newark on Dec. 1. Mikael Granlund tied the game at 3-3 with 10 seconds remaining in the third period, the third-latest game-tying goal in franchise history. It was also the third time in Predators history the team has tied a game with 10 seconds or less remaining in the third period and went on to win in overtime or a shootout.
The Predators are 5-0-0 in their last five games against the Devils; they are 9-0-1 in their last 10; and 3-0-2 in their last five at home. Nashville hasn't lost in regulation to New Jersey since March 3, 2015, going 10-0-3 in that time span. The Predators' last regulation loss at home to the Devils came on Jan. 19, 2009. Nashville has gone 6-0-4 against New Jersey on home ice since then, including wins in three straight.

Notables vs. New Jersey

• Head Coach John Hynes served in the same position for the Devils from 2015-19, posting a 150-159-45 record. Since joining the Predators, he has gone 4-0-0 against his former team.
• Duchene has produced at a point-per-game pace in his career vs. the Devils, tallying seven goals and 21 points in 21 games. He has 12 points (4g-8a) in his last eight meetings with New Jersey, including consecutive three-point efforts on Feb. 6, 2018 and Nov. 6, 2018.
• Josi has 15 points (5g-10a) in his last 12 games against the Devils. He's operating at a point-per-game pace in his career vs. New Jersey, recording 17 points (5g-12a) in 17 games.
• Granlund has 14 points (7g-7a) in 16 career games vs. New Jersey.
• Ryan McDonagh has played 40 career games against the Devils - the most among current Predators skaters - tallying 20 points (3g-17a). He scored his first career NHL goal on April 9, 2011 vs. New Jersey (Martin Brodeur).
• Yakov Trenin scored his first career NHL goal on Dec. 7, 2019 vs. New Jersey (Louis Domingue).
• Devils forward Erik Haula played in 51 games for Nashville in 2020-21, tallying 21 points (9g-12a).

Last Time Out

Nashville improved to 13-7-3 at home in 2022-23 with Tuesday's 2-1 win over Winnipeg. The Predators have won four of their last five games and are now 1-0-1 against the Jets this season. Nashville outshot Winnipeg 41-33, including by an 18-5 margin in the second period.
Glass opened the scoring for Nashville, and Tanner Jeannot scored the game-winning goal; it was his first goal since Oct. 27 vs. St. Louis. Alexandre Carrier did not return after the first period due to an upper-body injury sustained in a fight with Winnipeg's Logan Stanley. McDonagh led all skaters with a season-high 26:51 of ice time, and Josi tallied an assist, a +2 rating, two shots on goal and three blocked shots in 26 minutes of ice time.

Watch & Listen

Coverage for Thursday'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.