A four-game homestand concludes tonight for the Nashville Predators when they host the Edmonton Oilers for a 7 p.m. CT puck drop at Bridgestone Arena. This evening’s contest is the second of three meetings between the Preds and Oilers this season; Nashville fell in Edmonton one week ago.
After a shutout loss against Chicago on Saturday, the Predators rebounded with a 3-2 victory over Washington on Sunday evening. Now, they’ll look to bounce back against an Edmonton team that potted six against them last week, but the Preds are eager for a chance to finish off the homestand with a trio of wins.
“I think a little bit of it speaks of the resilience of our group that we've built up,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said of his club following Sunday’s win. “We've gone through stuff together. I've said this for a little while, but I don't know if we've ever been tighter, and nights like tonight grow that tightness. We know we’ve got a lot of work ahead, we know we're not perfect, but we will rebound. We're going to hang in there, and we're going to give it our best, and as a coach, that's all you can ask for… There’s a belief in that group that if we do the things that allow us to be successful, we're going to give ourselves a good chance.”
The Predators had Monday off following a back-to-back weekend set. Nashville went with the same collection of skaters on Sunday night as the previous outing with Justin Barron as the lone healthy scratch.
The Good Guys:
Roman Josi recorded three points, Steven Stamkos and Cole Smith also found the back of the net, and Justus Annunen earned the win as the Preds beat the Capitals by a 3-2 final on Sunday.
Per NHL PR, Stamkos scored his 601st career goal to tie Jari Kurri for 21st place on the NHL’s all-time list. Stamkos’ 233rd career power-play goal moved him past Dino Ciccarelli (232) for 10th place in League history. Josi reached 745 career points to pass Mark Howe (742) and Mathieu Schneider (743) for 26th place on the NHL’s all-time list among defensemen.
Ryan O’Reilly (13g-25a) paces the Preds with 38 points, followed by Filip Forsberg (16g-16a) with 32 points and Luke Evangelista with 25 assists and 31 points. Stamkos has 19 goals and 30 points on the season; Michael Bunting has 11 goals and 25 points. Juuse Saros is 17-15-3 in net; Annunen is now 4-5-1.
The Opposition:
The Oilers have won three of their last four, including a 4-1 victory last night in Chicago. Connor McDavid’s 80 points (30g-50a) are tops in the entire NHL, and he’s currently riding a 19-game point streak. Leon Draisaitl (24g-40a) is close behind with 64 points, and Evan Bouchard has 35 assists and 46 points from the backend. Connor Ingram, who got the win last night, is 4-2-1 in net; Calvin Pickard is 5-6-2.
All-Time Meetings:
The Preds are 46-36-(3)-5 all-time against the Oilers, including a 23-19-(3)-0 mark at home. Nashville is 2-7-1 in the last 10 versus Edmonton and just 1-4-0 in the last five outings at Bridgestone Arena.
Notables Versus Edmonton:
Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm was selected by the Predators in the fourth round (102nd overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft and played the first 719 games of his career with Nashville, recording 268 points (62g-206a).
Oilers blueliner Spencer Stastney was selected by Nashville in the fourth round (131st overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft and had 18 points (3g-15a) in 81 games for the Predators from 2022-26.
Edmonton goalie Connor Ingram went 1-2-0 in three games for Nashville in 2021-22.
Milestone Watch:
Steven Stamkos is one goal from passing Jari Kurri for the 21st-most in NHL history.
Barry Trotz is two wins from 100 as an NHL general manager.
Ryan O’Reilly is three games from 1,200 in his NHL career.
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for this evening’s contest begins at 6:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on FanDuel Sports Network South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley and Hal Gill. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic, analyst Chris Mason and rinkside reporter Kara Hammer will have the call on the television side.
Voice of the Predators 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 beginning one hour before puck drop. The game will also be broadcast in Spanish on El Jefe which airs on 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM and 810 AM. (El partido también se transmite en español por El Jefe en 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM y 810 AM.)
