The Good Guys:
O’Reilly’s shorthanded goal was Nashville’s only tally through 65 minutes against the Islanders, but Filip Forsberg scored in the shootout and Juuse Saros stopped all three skaters he faced in the breakaways for a 2-1 win.
O’Reilly (13g-24a) continues to lead the Preds with 37 points, followed by Forsberg (16g-15a) with 31 points and Luke Evangelista, who has 25 assists and 31 points. Steven Stamkos paces the team with 18 goals, and Michael Bunting has 11 goals and 25 points. Saros is now 17-14-3 in net; Justus Annunen is 3-5-1.
The Opposition:
The Blackhawks lost for the first time in five tries in 2026 with a 5-1 loss last night against Washington. Connor Bedard (19g-25a), who returned from injury last night, leads the Hawks with 44 points, followed by Tyler Bertuzzi with 22 goals and 34 points. Andrew Burakovsky has 10 goals and 29 points. Goaltenders Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom were both out of the lineup last night due to illness. Netminder Drew Commesso got the start against Washington.
All-Time Meetings:
The Preds are 73-52-(4)-12 all-time against the Blackhawks, including a 40-23-(3)-3 mark at home. Nashville is 8-2-0 in the last 10 overall versus Chicago and 4-1-0 in the last five at Bridgestone Arena.
The Predators have earned at least a point in 31 of their last 36 games against the Blackhawks (27-5-4), holding Chicago to two-or-fewer goals 29 times in that span. Nashville recorded a 16-game point streak against Chicago from Jan. 9, 2020-March 4, 2023 (13-0-3), tied for its longest point streak against a single opponent in franchise history (16 GP vs. Columbus from Nov. 15, 2006-March 28, 2008).
The Predators and Blackhawks have played against each other 141 times, Nashville’s most against any single franchise.
Notables Numbers:
With a win on Thursday, Nashville improved to 12-6-0 dating back to Dec. 1. Nashville (12) trails only Colorado (14-3-1) for the most wins in the Western Conference over that span.
The Predators have scored a power-play goal in 10 of their last 16 games, and their penalty kill remains among the League’s best at 81.7 percent, 10th in the NHL; at home, the PK is the best in the NHL at 89.7 percent.
Since Dec. 9, the Predators are third in the NHL in power play percentage during that time span operating at 28.9 percent behind the Oilers (35.4 percent) and Kraken (33.3 percent).
The Predators moved to 8-0 in shootouts over the past three seasons following Thursday’s win over the Islanders. Nashville has outscored its opponent 16-5 in the last eight shootouts it has participated in. Ryan O’Reilly ranks 11th among all active skaters in the shootout at 38.7 percent (24-for-62); Filip Forsberg is 15th at 35.8 percent (19-for-53).
Milestone Watch:
Nicolas Hague is one game from 400 in his NHL career.
Steven Stamkos is two goals from passing Jari Kurri for the 21st-most in NHL history.
Barry Trotz is three wins from 100 as an NHL general manager.
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for Saturday Night in Smashville 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.)
