Roman Josi is set to play in his 1,000th NHL game tonight as the Nashville Predators host the Ottawa Senators for a 7 p.m. CT puck drop at Bridgestone Arena. This evening’s contest is the second and final meeting between the Preds and Sens this season; Nashville prevailed in Ottawa back in October.
Nashville’s captain will become just the 84th player in NHL history to skate in his first 1,000 regular season games with the same franchise, and Josi and his team will be eager for a chance at redemption after falling to Buffalo on Tuesday.
That result marked the first time since before Thanksgiving the Predators have dropped consecutive games. Now, with two outings to go on their current homestand, they’ll look for more of the effort they put forth in the second half of Tuesday’s contest against the Sabres as opposed to the first.
“We're a great team in here, we just have to play like it,” Preds winger Filip Forsberg said following Tuesday’s loss that saw the Preds go down 4-0. “We can't keep giving teams big leads. We’re a heck of a team when we play the way we did in the second and the third. We lost the game in the first period. Simple as that.”
Preds winger Ozzy Wiesblatt was activated from Injured Reserve and made his return to the lineup after missing 21 games with an upper-body injury. Prior to Tuesday’s game, the Predators reassigned forward Reid Schaefer to Milwaukee (AHL). Defenseman Adam Wilsby remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury; forward Tyson Jost was Nashville’s lone healthy scratch on Tuesday.
The Good Guys:
Both Ryan O’Reilly (2g-1a) and Filip Forsberg (1g-2a) had three-point efforts on Tuesday night, and O’Reilly continues to lead the Preds with 47 points (18g-29a) on the season. Forsberg has 19 goals and 39 points, while Steven Stamkos leads the club with 21 goals to go along with his 33 points. Luke Evangelista has 28 assists and 35 points on the campaign. Juuse Saros, who took the loss on Tuesday, is 19-16-3 in net; Justus Annunen is 4-6-1.
Ahead of his 1,000th NHL game, Josi is the franchise’s all-time leader in assists (554) and points (752); won the 2020 Norris Trophy; is a four-time NHL All-Star (2016, 2019, 2020 and 2022); and has three times been named to the NHL’s First All-Star Team (2020, 2022 and 2024).
Named captain of the Predators in 2017, Josi ranks first in goals, assists and points among Swiss-born NHL players and will become the second Switzerland native to play in 1,000 career games, joining former teammate Nino Niederreiter.
The Opposition:
The Senators will finish their three-game road trip tonight after defeating the Blue Jackets by a 4-1 final on Tuesday in Columbus. Tim Stutzle leads the Senators with 22 goals and 51 points, followed by Drake Batherson with 19 goals and 44 points. Ottawa Captain Brady Tkachuk, who missed time due to injury earlier this season, has 11 goals and 28 points in 29 games. Recently signed goaltender James Reimer is 1-0-1 in two appearances since joining the Senators.
All-Time Meetings:
The Preds are 20-13-(0)-5 all-time against the Senators, including an 11-6-(0)-1 mark at home. Nashville is 6-3-1 in the last 10 outings versus Ottawa and 3-2-0 in the last five meetings at Bridgestone Arena.
Nashville Notables:
Josi was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week on Monday. Josi recorded seven points (2g-5a) in three games during the week, including a two-goal effort on Jan. 13 vs. Edmonton that saw him score the game-winner in overtime. It is Josi’s sixth career nod as an NHL “Star of the Week” and first since April 14, 2024 (second).
Josi recorded four straight games with multiple points from Jan. 11-17 (3g-7a); it was his first time with four straight multi-point performances since doing so five times in a row from March 13-21 (3g-12a). His six goals since Dec. 23 are the most among NHL defensemen; he is tied (Lane Hutson) for the most assists (8) and has the most points (10) since Jan. 11.
Forsberg has goals in three straight contests (3g) and seven points (3g-4a) in his last three games, headlined by two three-point efforts on Friday at Colorado (1g-2a) and Tuesday vs. Buffalo (1g-2a).
O’Reilly has 29 points (10g-19a) in his last 24 games and is currently on a five-game point streak (5g-5a). Evangelista has 25 points (5g-20a) in his last 27 games. Stamkos has 28 points (17g-11a) in his last 27 games.
Milestone Watch:
Roman Josi one game from 1,000 and two goals from 200 in his NHL career.
Fedor Svechkov is one game 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.)
