The final week of the regular season has arrived for the Nashville Predators, and the penultimate game of the campaign comes tonight against the San Jose Sharks with a 7 p.m. CT puck drop at Bridgestone Arena.
Coming off a massive 2-1 victory against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, the Preds now look to keep the momentum going in a critical game this evening.
Los Angeles currently resides in the Western Conference’s second Wild Card spot that the Preds hope to take, and Nashville remains just one point behind the Kings as the final push continues.
“We've gotten to a position where we have a chance, with two games left, to sneak in,” Preds forward Matthew Wood said Saturday. “I don't think anyone would have said that a couple months ago. It's been a credit to all the guys in this room. It's been a lot of fun.”
“[Our team and our leaders], they all bought in and put ourselves in a position just to be where we are,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said Saturday. “We're very grateful, but we also want a lot more. And this is a big week. We talked about winning the week. We won last week, and this is the week we've got to win.”
Preds Captain Roman Josi was back in the lineup against the Wild on Saturday after missing Thursday’s game in Utah with an upper-body injury. On Saturday, the Preds recalled defenseman Kevin Gravel from Milwaukee, and Jordan Oesterle was reassigned to the Admirals on Sunday afternoon. Blueliner Nic Hague is still day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
The Good Guys:
In Saturday’s matchup, Wood scored his 17th goal of the season, and Steven Stamkos continues to lead the team in goals after netting his 40th of the campaign. Filip Forsberg leads Nashville with 73 points, and Ryan O’Reilly paces the Predators in assists with 48. Goaltender Justus Annunen grabbed his 10th win of the season on Saturday and is now 10-11-2; Juuse Saros is 28-21-8.
The Opposition:
After winning three-of-four games to start the month of April, the Sharks playoff hopes have dwindled after losing three straight. Macklin Celebrini has 110 points (42g-68a) this season and leads the team in points, goals and assists. Will Smith has 23 goals in 66 games, which gives him the second-most on the team. Former Preds goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov is 21-19-4 on the season; Alex Nedeljkovic is 16-14-4.
All-Time Meetings:
The Preds are 51-29-(2)-8 all-time against the Sharks, including a 30-12-(1)-2 mark at home. Nashville owns an 18-game point streak (17-0-1) against San Jose that dates back to March 16, 2019, in which the team has allowed more than two goals against only four times. It is the longest active point streak by an NHL team against a single franchise.
The Predators’ win streak of 15 games against the Sharks is also the longest active against a single team in the NHL and their longest run against a single team in franchise history.
Nashville Notables:
Steven Stamkos notched his eighth career 40-goal season on Saturday vs. Minnesota; he tied Phil Esposito, Bobby Hull, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille for the seventh-most such campaigns in NHL history. It is the fourth time in franchise history the Predators have had a player reach the 40-goal mark.
Matthew Wood scored his 17th goal of the season on Saturday to surpass Adam Hall (16 in 2002-03) and Luke Evangelista (16 in 2023-24) for the fourth-most by a rookie in a season for Nashville. Topping the list is Filip Forsberg (26 in 2014-15), Tanner Jeannot (24 in 2021-22) and Alexander Radulov (18 in 2006-07).
Justus Annunen has stopped 64-of-65 shots over his last two starts.
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.)
