Game Day: Preds vs. Kraken Preview

The Nashville Predators (35-26-8) will host the first of two back-to-back games against the Seattle Kraken (39-24-7) Thursday 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 Tuesday at Buffalo:
Tomasino - Glass - Duchene
Sherwood - Novak - Evangelista
Trenin - Sissons - Smith
Afanasyev - Jankowski - Asplund
McDonagh - Fabbro
Barrie - Gross
Lauzon - Foote
Saros

Last Time Out

Nashville improved to 18-14-4 on the road in 2022-23 with Tuesday's win at Buffalo. The Predators closed out their two-game, regular-season series against the Sabres with a 1-1-0 record.
Tuesday was the first time in franchise history the Predators scored seven goals one game after allowing seven. Five Nashville skaters recorded multiple points: Luke Evangelista (2g-2a), Matt Duchene (2g-1a), Ryan McDonagh (1g-1a), Tommy Novak (1g-1a) and Philip Tomasino (1g-1a). All four of Evangelista's points came in the second period, and his two goals came 40 seconds apart.

All-Time Meetings

The Predators are 1-3-0 all-time against the Kraken, including a 0-1-0 record at Bridgestone Arena. This is the second of three matchups between Nashville and Seattle in 2022-23 and the first of two at home.
Nashville is 0-1-0 against Seattle this season, dropping a 5-1 decision at Climate Pledge Arena on Nov. 8.
Bridgestone Arena hosted Seattle in the franchise's first-ever NHL game on Oct. 14, 2021, a 4-3 loss for the Predators. Seattle is the fifth franchise to join the NHL after Nashville's inaugural season (1998-99), along with Atlanta/Winnipeg, Minnesota, Columbus and Vegas.

Notables vs. Seattle

• Filip Forsberg (1g-3a) and Roman Josi (1g-3a) shared the Predators lead in points against the Kraken last season with four.
• Duchene scored three goals in three games vs. Seattle in 2021-22.
• Jeremy Lauzon recorded six points in 53 games with Seattle in 2021-22 before being traded to Nashville for a second-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
• Seattle forward Eeli Tolvanen played 135 games for Nashville from 2018-22, tallying 51 points (25g-26a). He was selected by Nashville in the first round (30th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft. Tolvanen scored Nashville's first-ever goal against Seattle on Oct. 14, 2021.
• Seattle's Head Equipment Manager, Jeff Camelio, spent 15 seasons as Nashville's Assistant Equipment Manager; 2019-20 was Camelio's final campaign with the Predators.

The Good Guys

• Evangelista has nine points (5g-4a) in his first 11 career NHL games after recording a career-high four points (2g-2a) on Tuesday at Buffalo. Evangelista became the second rookie in Predators history to record a four-point game, joining Dan Hamhuis (1g-4a on March 4, 2004 at Pittsburgh). All four of his points came in the second period, tying Filip Forsberg's (2g-2a in the third on March 21, 2022 at Anaheim) franchise record for points in a single frame. Evangelista recorded three points in a span of 6:01, marking the fastest a rookie has ever done so for the Predators. The previous mark of three points in 6:40 was set by Andy Berenzweig on Dec. 29, 2001 vs. Detroit. Since his NHL debut on Feb. 28 vs. Pittsburgh, Evangelista is third among NHL rookies in points (9).
• Novak has 32 points (14g-18a) in 38 games with Nashville since being recalled from Milwaukee (AHL) on Dec. 19. In a 17-game span since Feb. 18, Novak has posted 21 points (10g-11a) - tied for the 12th-most among NHL skaters - including six multi-point efforts. Since his season debut, only Roman Josi (12g-24a) has posted more points than Novak for Nashville.
• Since making his season debut on Feb. 13 vs. Arizona, Tomasino has recorded 13 points (4g-9a) in 18 games. He has seven points (2g-5a) in his last six games after scoring and adding an assist on Tuesday at Buffalo.
• After opening the season with three points (1g-2a) in his first 16 appearances (Oct. 7-Dec. 12), Cody Glass owns 24 points (9g-15a) in his last 43 games. He's found the scoresheet in 11 of his last 24 games (5g-8a) and 14 of his last 28 (6g-10a). Glass has established career highs in goals (10), assists (17) and points (27) this season.
• Duchene has 33 points (15g-18a) in his last 41 games, including a three-point effort on Tuesday at Buffalo (2g-1a). He's recorded points in 11 of his last 24 games (10g-10a), tallying multiple points in six of those outings.
• Sherwood has points in five of his last 10 games (2g-4a).
• Colton Sissons tallied an assist on March 14 vs. Detroit to give him 14 points (5g-9a) in his last 28 outings. Sitting at 27 points (11g-16a), he is three from matching his career high of 30, set in 2018-19 (15g-15a).

The Other Guys

The Kraken are 2-2-1 in their last five games after a 5-4 overtime win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. Seattle has not won a game in regulation since March 7 (5-2 vs. Anaheim) and is currently in fourth place in the Pacific Division.
Vince Dunn leads the Kraken in points with 57 (13g-44a), while Jared McCann has scored a team-high 34 goals. Matty Beniers is currently in first place among all NHL rookies with 49 points (19g-30a).

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, with pregame, postgame and intermission coverage by Max Herz. The game will also be broadcast in Spanish on El Jefe which airs on 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM and 810 AM.