Game Day: Preds at Oilers Preview

After starting their two-game trip in the Pacific Northwest, the Nashville Predators have arrived in the province of Alberta, and they'll take on the Edmonton Oilers tonight from Rogers Place. This evening's contest is the second of three meetings between the two clubs; the Preds fell in Edmonton back in November to start the season series.
The Predators have now won their last three outings, including a 4-2 victory on Tuesday night against the Kraken in their first-ever visit to Seattle. Now, Nashville will look for their 15th road win of the season tonight against an Oilers team that has won their last two as they look to make their way out of a tough stretch of games.

The Preds know they can be better than they were in Seattle, but they still found a way nonetheless, and they'll look to extend their win streak to four games tonight.
"I just liked the fact that we had a pretty gritty effort," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said following Tuesday's outing. "We had to stay with it. It wasn't an easy game. Credit to Seattle, I thought they played a good game and tested us in certain areas, but I felt like we were able to gather ourselves in the areas that gave us trouble in particular periods. We felt like it didn't continue from period to period. We were able to adjust some things, and the guys came out, battled, did a good job and [earned a] hard-fought two points."
"This group has shown time in and time out that it doesn't matter the score, it doesn't matter how many goals we're down with or up with, we still fight," Preds defenseman Mattias Ekholm said Tuesday. "We're in there battling, and again tonight, I thought we did a good job coming back. We had a really good stretch there late in the second that kind of set us up for the game. So obviously, we'd like to jump up early, get a good lead and hold on to it, but sometimes it's really good for your group to go through different scenarios in the game and emotions. So, it was really nice for us to be able to come back twice."

On Tuesday morning, Preds General Manager David Poile said on ESPN 102.5 The Game defenseman Dante Fabbro (upper-body, Injured Reserve) is not on the current trip, but Poile said he expected Fabbro could be ready to return next week. Poile also said the same for forward Eeli Tolvanen who is currently on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list.
The Predators reassigned forward Cole Smith and defenseman Matt Tennyson to the taxi squad on Wednesday. Nashville did not practice in Edmonton on Wednesday, but they are expected to hold a morning skate today before facing the Oilers.

The Good Guys:

Ekholm, Luke Kunin, Filip Forsberg and Matt Duchene all tallied in Tuesday's victory, while Juuse Saros earned the win in net. Duchene became the second member of the Preds to reach the 20-goal mark this season as he joined Forsberg (21) on the stat line.
Captain Roman Josi continues to lead the Preds in scoring with 43 points (13g-30a), followed by Duchene with 20 goals and 39 points and Mikael Granlund with 36 points (6g-30a). Forsberg has 21 goals and 34 points in 31 games, Ryan Johansen has 12 goals and 33 points while rookie Tanner Jeannot has 13 goals and 26 points for Nashville. Saros is 23-11-2 in net; David Rittich is 3-2-1.

The Opposition:

The Oilers have won two straight after dropping their previous seven, including a 3-2 overtime victory against Vancouver on Tuesday night. Leon Draisaitl leads the Oilers - and the NHL - with 59 points (29g-30a), followed by Connor McDavid with 57 points (20g-37a). Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has 27 points (3g-24a), Zach Hyman has 11 goals on the season and Jesse Puljujarvi has 10. Mikko Koskinen is 14-8-1 in net for Edmonton; Stuart Skinner is 4-6-0.

All-Time Meetings:

The Predators are 44-27-(3)-3 all-time against the Oilers, including a 22-14-(0)-3 record on the road. Nashville has won 14 of its last 19 games against Edmonton, with 13 of those wins coming consecutively from Oct. 29, 2014-Oct. 20, 2018. During the streak, the Preds outscored the Oilers 40-15 and limited them to two-or-fewer goals 12 times, including five shutouts.
The Predators are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games in Edmonton. Nashville has won at least nine in a row over Edmonton two separate times, with the first coming from Nov. 1, 2006 to Oct. 30, 2008.

Notables Versus Edmonton:

Juuse Saros set the Preds franchise record for most saves in a shutout when he posted 46 vs. Edmonton on Dec. 14, 2017. In five career games vs. the Oilers, Saros is 2-2-0 with a 1.71 goals-against average and .954 save percentage.
Ryan Johansen has 11 points (2g-9a) in his last 14 games against the Oilers dating back to March 14, 2016. Filip Forsberg has averaged nearly a point per game in his career vs. the Oilers, tallying 15 points (9g-6a) in 17 games. He became the second player in NHL history to score a "lacrosse-style" goal in Nashville's game against Edmonton on Jan. 14, 2020.
Matt Duchene owns 34 points (9g-25a) in 37 career games against the Oilers. Edmonton native Matt Benning played four seasons for the Oilers from 2016-20, posting 61 points (15g-46a) in 248 games.
Oilers forward Kyle Turris played parts of three seasons in Nashville from 2017-20 and posted 96 points (29g-67a) in 182 games.

Watch & Listen:

Coverage for tonight's 8 p.m. CT puck drop from Edmonton begins at 7:30 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 7 p.m. with Darren McFarland. For broadcast information and channel locations throughout the country,
click here
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