The final road game of the 2025-26 season has arrived for the Nashville Predators, and they’ll face the Utah Mammoth tonight at Delta Center for an 8 p.m. CT puck drop. As has been the case throughout their five-game road trip, tonight’s contest carries numerous playoff implications - most notably of which is a regulation win for the Preds would bring them within two points of the Mammoth in the Wild Card race.
Thanks to Tuesday’s 5-0 shutout victory in Anaheim, the Predators are back in the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference with the Mammoth occupying the first spot. Nashville has collected seven of a possible eight points on their trip thus far, and with just four games remaining in the regular season, they’ll need all the points they can get the rest of the way.
“We're just day to day – don't really look at what's behind us,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said following Tuesday’s win. “We’ve got another road game, and then we're going to approach it the same way we approach all of them. Get a little bit of rest here. We know Utah's a really good team, and a team we're chasing, and we want to put our best foot forward next game.”
Nashville’s lineup remained unchanged from Monday night with defenseman Nic Hague remaining day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Forward Ozzy Wiesblatt and blueliner Jordan Oesterle served as healthy scratches.
The Predators did not practice on Wednesday following the back-to-back set, but they are scheduled to hold a morning skate today in Salt Lake City.
The Good Guys:
Erik Haula, Filip Forsberg, Brady Skjei, Zach L’Heureux and Fedor Svechkov all tallied for Nashville on Tuesday night, but it was Justus Annunen who stole the show with a 43-save shutout. Per NHL PR, he became the third goalie in Predators history with as many saves in a shutout victory, joining Juuse Saros (46 on Dec. 14, 2017 and 43 on Jan. 16, 2018) and Dan Ellis (43 on March 28, 2008).
Forsberg now has 38 goals and leads the Preds with 73 points, followed by Ryan O’Reilly with 72 points (25g-47a). Steven Stamkos is one goal away from 40 and has 61 points, while Luke Evangelista has 41 assists and 51 points. Annunen is now 9-11-2 in net; Saros is 28-20-8 on the season.
The Opposition:
The Mammoth have won four straight and have scored at least six goals in each of those wins, including a 6-5 overtime victory against Edmonton on Tuesday. Clayton Keller has 54 assists and 80 points to lead Utah, followed by Nick Schmaltz with 30 goals and 70 points, and then Dylan Guenther with 38 goals and 69 points. Former Preds goaltending prospect Karel Vejmelka is 36-19-3 in net; Vitek Vanecek is 5-11-3.
All-Time Meetings:
The Preds are 3-2-1 all-time against Utah and 2-0-0 in Salt Lake City since the franchise's inception last season.
Nashville Notables:
Per NHL PR, Tuesday’s shutout win in Anaheim was Nashville’s first since Jan. 3, 2025, when they blanked the Canucks (3-0 win). The last time Nashville scored five or more goals in a shutout victory was March 5, 2022 (8-0 win at San Jose).
Filip Forsberg scored on the power play on Tuesday to extend his point streak to five games (5g-3a), and Joakim Kemell recorded his first career multi-point game (2a). Tuesday was the second time this season the penalty kill went 6-for-6 in a game, a season high (Dec. 4 at Florida).
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for tonight’s contest begins at 7:30 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.
