Defenseman Dante Fabbro was also out of the lineup on Thursday, and he'll miss tonight's meeting in Tampa, as he serves the final night of his two-game suspension for elbowing Carolina's Brock McGinn earlier in the week.
As a result of the absentees, a number of Nashville's rookies are getting chances in the lineup, and the Predators are embracing the opportunity to see a number of their top prospects in action considering the circumstances.
"We knew this season was going to be an unusual one," Preds defenseman Mattias Ekholm said following Thursday's loss. "It's a short one, and we know that normally if a guy's out for a couple of days, a couple weeks, usually that's not that much of a season… but this year is a very short one. So, for us, we've got to keep moving forward. Just that next game, that kind of mentality the whole time; it doesn't matter win or lose, not too high, not too low. It's all cliche, but it really comes into play when you're in this kind of situation."
The Predators did not practice on Friday in Tampa. Prior to Thursday's game in Carolina, defenseman Frederic Allard was recalled from Chicago (AHL) to the taxi squad. On Friday, forward Michael McCarron, as well as defensemen Alexandre Carrier and Ben Harpur were reassigned to the taxi squad.
Last Time Out:
Nick Cousins scored the lone goal for the Preds in Thursday's 5-1 loss to Carolina. Goaltender Pekka Rinne started the game, but Kasimir Kaskisuo made his Predators debut and took over for Rinne after the Hurricanes scored their fifth goal early in the third period.
Filip Forsberg leads the Preds with 10 goals and 27 points, followed by Viktor Arvidsson with 12 points (3g-9a), and then Mikael Granlund (5g-5a) and Ekholm (4g-6a) with 10 points each. Rinne is 6-10-1 on the season; Kaskisuo made three saves in relief on Thursday.
The Opposition:
The Lightning were riding a nine-game point streak prior to Thursday's 6-4 loss at Detroit. Defenseman Victor Hedman leads the Bolts in scoring with 25 points (5g-20a), followed by Steven Stamkos (12g-12a), Ondrej Palat (11g-13a) and Braydon Point (9g-15a) with 24 points each. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is 16-3-1 on the season, while Cutis McElhinney owns a 2-2-1 record.
All-Time Meetings:
The Predators are 16-12-(2)-4 all-time against the Lightning, including a 7-6-(2)-1 record on the road. Overall, the Preds have earned a point in 13 of their last 17 games (10-4-3) and 16 of their last 21 games (13-5-3) against the Lightning.
Nashville's loss to Tampa Bay on Jan. 30 was its first in regulation against the Lightning since Dec. 29, 2013, a 13-game span. The Predators posted a 10-game point streak (7-0-3) against the Lightning from Feb. 7, 2008 to Dec. 3, 2019.
Notables Versus Tampa Bay:
Colton Sissons notched his first career regular-season hat trick on Jan. 5, 2017, versus Tampa Bay and became the first player in NHL history to score at least three goals in a game with his second being an empty-netter and his third being scored on a goalie.
Ryan Johansen has 11 points (2g-9a) in his last 10 contests against Tampa Bay, a run that included a six-game point streak from Jan. 5, 2017 to Oct. 26, 2019. Filip Forsberg has 11 points (5g-6a) in 13 career meetings with the Lightning.
Calle Jarnkrok owns 10 points (3g-7a) in 13 career games versus Tampa Bay. He posted points (3g-3a) in four straight meetings with the Lightning from Nov. 1, 2018 to Dec. 3, 2019.
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for tonight's 6 p.m. CT puck drop from Tampa begins on FOX Sports Tennessee at 5:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show hosted by Lyndsay Rowley and Terry Crisp. Willy Daunic, Chris Mason and Kara Hammer 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
Streaming Info:
Listen to a Live Radio Feed (only active during the game broadcast window).
Watch a Live Stream of the game on the Fox Sports Go App or Watch on NHL.TV
