A three-game road trip for the Nashville Predators begins tonight in Boston when they take on the Bruins for a 6 p.m. CT puck drop at TD Garden. This evening’s contest is the first of two meetings between the clubs this season; the Preds will host the Bruins in March.
A three-game homestand only delivered one win for the Predators last Thursday, but they dropped a 5-2 decision to Utah on Saturday and have lost three of their last four overall. Now, with just six games to go before the Olympic break, they’ll be looking to get back into the win column and stack some points ahead of the hiatus.
“These are huge games,” Preds centerman Ryan O’Reilly said of the road trip following Saturday’s loss. “We have to show that we are a playoff team. It's a great opportunity for us. This is going to be a big part of our season here, what we can do, and it starts with a good first game. We need to respond. I need to respond. The whole group needs to respond and get back to us… This group, it's a great group of guys, and we will respond.”
‘We’ve done a good job rebounding, and the challenges are going to be even harder on the road,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “You wish for a good start, and we have a sloppy finish, so we’ve got to fix that a little bit. Too many passengers in a big game, which is a little bit disappointing. But we’ve just got to rebound. We go back on the road where I think we've played pretty well, especially lately, and a good opportunity for us to grab it here and win next week.”
Preds defenseman Nic Hague did not play on Saturday and is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Blueliner Adam Wilsby returned to the lineup from his lower-body injury and took Hague’s place on the backend. Forward Tyson Jost rejoined the lineup as well; Fedor Svechkov was Nashville’s lone healthy scratch.
The Good Guys:
O’Reilly (18g-32a) continues to lead the Preds with 50 points, followed by Filip Forsberg (19g-21a) with 40 points. Steven Stamkos leads the team with 25 goals and has 37 points; Luke Evangelista has picked up 30 assists and also has 37 points. Juuse Saros is 20-17-3 in net this season; Justus Annunen is 4-6-1.
The Opposition:
The Bruins fell in overtime last night against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. That result marked just the third loss for Boston in the month of January. David Pastrnak (21g-46a) had three assists last night and leads the team with 67 points, followed by Morgan Geekie with his 29 goals and 48 points. Pavel Zach has 14 goals and 36 points to his name. Jeremy Swayman is 20-12-2 in net this season; Joonas Korpisalo, who played last night, is 10-8-1.
All-Time Meetings:
The Preds are 17-18-(1)-3 all-time against the Bruins, including a 6-9-(1)-3 mark on the road. Nashville is 4-5-1 in the last 10 versus Boston but 3-1-1 in the past five at TD Garden.
Nashville Notables:
Filip Forsberg has eight points (3g-5a) in his last five games, headlined by two three-point efforts on Jan. 16 at Colorado (1g-2a) and Tuesday vs. Buffalo (1g-2a).
Ryan O’Reilly has 32 points (10g-22a) in his last 26 games.
Luke Evangelista has 27 points (5g-22a) in his last 29 games.
Steven Stamkos has 32 points (21g-11a) in his last 29 games.
Aside from waiver claims, Boston is the only team that Nashville has never had a transaction with since the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft, in which the Predators selected center Mike Sullivan.
Milestone Watch:
Roman Josi is two goals from 200 in his NHL career.
Jonathan Marchessault is five assists from 300 in his NHL career.
Brady Skjei is four points from 300 in his NHL career.
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for this evening’s contest begins at 5:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on FanDuel Sports Network South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and Chris Mason will have the call on the television side. Max Herz and Hal Gill will call the game on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network.
