A five-game stretch away from home begins this evening for the Nashville Predators when they visit the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center for a 4:30 p.m. CT puck drop. Today’s contest is the second and final meeting between the two clubs this season; the Preds fell to the Sabres in Nashville earlier this season.
With the NHL Trade Deadline now in the rearview, the Predators know what their roster looks like moving forward. Over the past week, Nashville dealt forwards Michael McCarron, Cole Smith and Michael Bunting, as well as defenseman Nick Blankenburg, in four separate deals. The Preds did not make any moves yesterday before the deadline arrived at 2 p.m. CT.
As a result of those deals, Nashville recalled forwards Fedor Svechkov, Reid Schaefer and Joakim Kemell, plus defenseman Ryan Ufko, throughout the day on Thursday - and all four played against the Bruins that night.
That youthful energy helped the Preds to a six-goal output against Boston, and they’ll hope to have a similar showing tonight in Buffalo.
“It's an awesome group,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said following Thursday’s win. “We've always talked about it, and we try to have a culture as a group of hard-working culture… Almost every night, we work pretty hard, and there's rarely nights where you don't see our group not working. It's not always a perfect game, but I feel like the work is always there, and I think you saw that tonight doesn't matter [the] circumstances. We still go out and try to work as hard as we can.”
The Good Guys:
Matthew Wood tallied twice in Nashville’s 6-3 win over the Bruins on Thursday; Erik Haula, Nic Hague, Filip Forsberg and Luke Evangelista also found the back of the net, and Juuse Saros got the win.
Ryan O’Reilly has 22 goals and leads the Preds with 59 points, followed by Forsberg (28g-25a) with 53 points and Steven Stamkos with 30 goals and 49 points. Evangelista has 38 assists and 47 points; Roman Josi has 11 goals and 42 points from the back end. Saros is now 22-18-6 this season; Justus Annunen is 6-8-2 overall.
The Opposition:
The Sabres have won five in a row out of the Olympic break and were active at the Trade Deadline, acquiring former Preds defenseman Luke Schenn, as well as defenseman Logan Stanley, from Winnipeg. Buffalo also bought in Sam Carrick and Tanner Pearson in separate deals on Friday.
Team USA gold medalist Tage Thompson leads the Sabres with 33 goals and 65 points, followed by Alex Tuch with 25 goals and 53 points. Rasmus Dahlin has 41 assists and 53 points as well. Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is 14-7-2 in net; Colten Ellis is 7-4-1.
All-Time Meetings:
The Preds are 21-14-(1)-2 all-time against the Sabres, including a 13-4-(1)-0 mark on the road. Nashville is 5-5-0 in the last 10 versus Buffalo and 2-3-0 in the past five meetings in New York.
Ryan O’Reilly played 224 games for Buffalo from 2015-18, recording 176 points (65g-111a). He recorded his 800th career point (assist) on Jan. 31, 2025 at Buffalo.
Nashville Notables:
Since returning from the Olympic break, Nashville's power play has clicked at 35.7 percent, tied for the fifth-best in the NHL.
Matthew Wood scored two goals in a period for the second time in 2025-26 (also Nov. 10, 2025). He became the second Predators rookie to do so twice in a single season, following Luke Evangelista (2x in 2022-23).
Forsberg recorded his 52nd career three-point game and passed Markus Naslund for sole possession of 12th-most by a Swedish-born player. Peter Forsberg leads the list with 105.
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for this evening’s contest begins at 4 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. The game may also be viewed on NewsChannel 5 in Nashville. Voice of the Preds Pete Weber and Hal Gill will call the game on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network.
