Game Day: Preds at Blue Jackets Preview

The Nashville Predators will close out the 2021 portion of their schedule tonight in Columbus when they face the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. This evening's contest is the second and final meeting of the season between the two clubs; the Preds shut out the Jackets by a 6-0 final last month behind four goals from Filip Forsberg.
The Predators returned from a 12-day hiatus last night in Washington - and Forsberg scored in that outing as well - but Nashville fell to the Capitals by a 5-3 final to end a seven-game win streak. Now, the Preds will look to finish the year with two more points, and they say despite Wednesday's loss, there is still plenty to build on tonight.

"There's emotion in the game, there's pushback from our team, there's intensity in the effort and we come back and tie the game," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said following Wednesday's loss. "It was a man's game out there, and I give our guys a lot of credit. It wasn't the first period that we wanted, but I think when you look at the resilience, the mental and physical toughness we played with, and we come back and tie the game; unfortunately couldn't get the game-winner, but I give our guys a lot of credit for the way we played. Sometimes you're going to be in situations like that, and I think we've got to grow from it. But I liked a lot about tonight's game."
Nashville saw a number of players return to the lineup on Wednesday, including forward Matt Duchene who had missed the previous four games with an upper-body injury. Forwards Ryan Johansen, Mikael Granlund, Philip Tomasino, Nick Cousins and Michael McCarron, as well as defensemen Mark Borowiecki and Ben Harpur, were also back after coming off the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list.
Captain Roman Josi, as well as forwards Colton Sissons and Tommy Novak, spent their first game of the season on the COVID protocol list.
The Predators are not expected to hold a morning skate today with the second half of the back-to-back set ahead tonight.

The Good Guys:

In addition to Forsberg, Yakov Trenin and Luke Kunin also tallied for the Preds on Wednesday, and Juuse Saros made 32 saves in the loss. Josi leads the Preds in scoring, but Granlund is next with 23 assists and 28 points in 29 games. Duchene has 13 goals and 25 points on the season, Johansen has eight goals and 24 points, and Forsberg leads the team with 14 goals in just 22 games. Saros is 15-9-1 in net; David Rittich is 3-1-0 in five appearances.

The Opposition:

The Blue Jackets (14-13-1) had their last five games postponed and have not played since Dec. 16, a 5-2 loss to the Oilers. Oliver Bjorkstrand (9g-14a) leads Columbus 23 points, followed by Jakub Voracek (1g-21a) with 22 points and Zach Werenski (5g-14a) with 19 points. Boone Jenner has 11 goals on the season; Alexandre Texier has nine. Elvis Merzlikins is 11-7-1 in net for the Jackets.

All-Time Meetings:

The Predators are 66-22-(1)-7 all-time against the Blue Jackets, including a 26-16-(0)-4 record on the road. Nashville has earned at least a point in 13 of its last 16 games vs. the Blue Jackets (12-3-1), including wins in eight of its last 10.
The Predators went 6-2-0 against the Blue Jackets last season, their third-most wins in a single season against Columbus and their most since claiming seven in 2007-08. Three of the eight most winningest goaltenders against Columbus in NHL history played for the Predators: Pekka Rinne (22), Tomas Vokoun (20) and Chris Mason (16).

Notables Versus Columbus:

Filip Forsberg owns two career hat tricks against Columbus, including his first career four-goal game on Nov. 30. He has 20 points (12g-8a) in 21 career meetings with the Blue Jackets, including points in eight of his last 11 games vs. Columbus.
Mattias Ekholm has three points (2g-1a) in his last six games vs. Columbus; following his two-goal performance on Feb. 27, 2021, he now has 10 points (5g-5a) in 19 career meetings with the Blue Jackets. In addition to posting 21 points (7g-14a) in 36 career games against Columbus, Matt Duchene played in 23 games for the Blue Jackets in 2018-19, recording 12 points (4g-8a).

Watch & Listen:

Coverage for tonight's 6 p.m. CT puck drop from Columbus begins at 5:30 p.m. CT with the Predators Live! pregame show on Bally Sports South. Willy Daunic, Chris Mason and Lyndsay Rowley have the call on the television side, while Pete Weber and Hal Gill will broadcast on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network. Pregame coverage on the radio begins at 5 p.m. with Darren McFarland. For broadcast information and channel locations throughout the country,
click here
.