A three-game homestand begins tonight for the Nashville Predators as they host the Buffalo Sabres for a 7 p.m. CT puck drop at Bridgestone Arena. This evening’s contest on Black Music Heritage Night presented by Nissan in Nashville is the first of two meetings between the Preds and Sabres this season.
The Predators have returned from quite a back-to-back test on the road with a victory in Colorado on Friday before they fell in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Despite the result against the Golden Knights, the Preds have collected wins against the Capitals, Oilers and Avalanche as of late, and now, they’ll face another one of the NHL’s hottest teams with the Sabres in town.
“We played two really good teams, obviously won last night, and wish we had a better showing tonight,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said following Saturday’s loss that saw Nashville surrender five goals in the third period. “But I think tonight showed us again that we know how we have to play. We know what it takes to win, the way we have to play, and when we get away from that we're not going to be successful. So, it was a good lesson.”
The Preds practiced on Monday upon their return to Nashville with defenseman Adam Wilsby remaining day-to-day with a lower-body injury. On Saturday, the Preds activated winger Jonathan Marchessault from Injured Reserve, and the former Golden Knight returned to the Nashville lineup. Defenseman Andreas Englund was reassigned to Milwaukee (AHL) prior to Saturday’s game, and winger Matthew Wood was a healthy scratch against the Golden Knights.
The Good Guys:
Josi has 10 points in his last four games, and on Monday, he was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week for his efforts. The Captain had a pair of assists against the Golden Knights, while Luke Evangelista and Filip Forsberg tallied in Saturday’s loss.
Ryan O’Reilly (16g-28a) leads the Preds with 44 points, followed by Forsberg (18g-18a) with 36 points and Evangelista with 27 assists and 34 points. Steven Stamkos leads the club with 21 goals. Juuse Saros is 19-15-3 in net; Justus Annunen is 4-6-1.
The Opposition:
The Sabres won 10 straight games in the month of December - and they’ve won five more in January - but they’ve dropped their last two outings, including a 2-1 loss yesterday afternoon against the Hurricanes in Raleigh.
Tage Thompson leads Buffalo with 25 goals and 50 points, followed by Alex Tuch with 17 goals and 40 points. Rasmus Dahlin has 28 assists and 35 points from the backend. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who lost yesterday in Carolina, is 10-7-2 in net; Alex Lyon is 10-6-3.
All-Time Meetings:
The Preds are 21-13-(1)-2 all-time against the Sabres, including an 8-9-(0)-2 mark at home. Nashville is 5-5-0 in the last 10 versus Buffalo and 3-2-0 in the past five at Bridgestone Arena.
Notables Versus Buffalo:
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.
Tyson Jost played 102 games for Buffalo from 2022-24, recording 28 points (10g-18a).
Juuse Saros made his NHL debut on Nov. 28, 2015 vs. Buffalo.
Milestone Watch:
Ryan O’Reilly played in his 1,200th career NHL game on Jan. 17 at Vegas.
Roman Josi is two goals from 200 and two games from 1,000 in his NHL career.
Fedor Svechkov is two games from 100 in his NHL career.
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for this evening’s contest begins at 6:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on FanDuel Sports Network South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley and Hal Gill. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic, analyst Chris Mason and rinkside reporter Kara Hammer will have the call on the television side.
Voice of the Predators Pete Weber and Jay More will call the game on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network, with pregame, postgame and intermission coverage by Max Herz beginning one hour before puck drop. The game will also be broadcast in Spanish on El Jefe which airs on 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM and 810 AM. (El partido también se transmite en español por El Jefe en 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM y 810 AM.)
