After winning three of four games on their homestand, the Nashville Predators begin a two-game road trip tonight when they face the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena at 8 p.m. CT. Tonight’s contest is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the division rivals; the Preds beat the Avs in a shootout last month but have dropped the other two contests.
The Predators finished off their four-game homestand on Tuesday with a 4-3 overtime victory against Edmonton thanks to a pair of goals from Roman Josi. Now, they’ll turn their attention to a pair of meetings against two of the best in the NHL - and the challenge begins tonight in Denver.
“Well, it's going to be a tough one,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said Thursday of facing the Avalanche. “I mean, they haven't played since Monday, so they'll be licking their chops and ready to go. Their record at home speaks for itself, so it’s going to be a challenge for us. I think we've played them pretty straight up a lot of the games we've played them, so we should feel confident about that, but we understand that building with the players they have, it's going to be a similar night to the other night in Edmonton. We’re just going to have to make sure we get in front of them and try to slow them down and do what we do best. If we do that, we'll give ourselves a chance.”
The Predators practiced on Thursday in Nashville before departing for Denver and were joined by forwards Ozzy Wiesblatt (IR) and Jonathan Marchessault (IR). Wiesblatt’s appearance marked his first full practice since suffering an upper-body injury in December. Defenseman Nic Hague also returned to practice after missing Tuesday’s game due to illness.
Preds defenseman Adam Wilsby did not practice on Thursday and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
The Good Guys:
Including his overtime winner on Tuesday, Josi now has five points (3g-2a) in his last two games. Steven Stamkos and Cole Smith also tallied in Tuesday’s win, and Juuse Saros earned the victory in net. Stamkos scored goal No. 602 of his NHL career to pass Jari Kurri for 21st on the all-time list.
Former Avalanche forward Ryan O’Reilly (13g-26a) continues to lead the Preds with 39 points, followed by Filip Forsberg (16g-16a) with 32 points. Stamkos has 20 goals and 31 points on the season; Luke Evangelista has 25 assists and 31 points as well. Saros is now 18-15-3 in net; former Colorado goaltender Justus Annunen is 4-5-1.
The Opposition:
The Avalanche are in the midst of a seven-game homestand. After winning the first two, they fell to the Maple Leafs by a 4-3 final in overtime on Monday. Nathan MacKinnon leads the entire NHL in goals (36) and is second in points (81). Martin Necas has 21 goals and 57 points, and Cale Makar (14g-39a) leads all blueliners with 53 points. Scott Wedgewood is 19-3-4 on the season; Mackenzie Blackwood is 13-1-1.
All-Time Meetings:
The Preds are 52-40-(5)-5 all-time against the Avalanche, including a 23-23-(2)-3 record on the road. Nashville is 5-4-1 in the last 10 overall versus Colorado but 0-4-1 in the last five at Ball Arena.
Nashville’s 14 wins are the second-most in the Western Conference since Dec. 1, trailing only Colorado (15).
Notables Versus Colorado:
Ryan O’Reilly was selected by Colorado in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft. He played 427 games for Colorado from 2009-15, recording 246 points (90g-156a).
Justin Barron was selected by Colorado in the first round (25th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft. He played two games for Colorado in 2021-22.
Justus Annunen was selected by Colorado in the third round (64th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft. He played 29 games for Colorado from 2021-24, going 16-9-2 with two shutouts.
Tyson Jost was selected by Colorado in the first round (10th overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft. He played 321 games for Colorado from 2016-22, recording 103 points (45g-58a).
Milestone Watch:
Barry Trotz is one win from 100 as an NHL general manager.
Ryan O’Reilly is two games from 1,200 in his NHL career.
Roman Josi is two goals from 200 and four games from 1,000 in his NHL career.
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for this evening’s contest begins at 7:30 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. Max Herz and Hal Gill will call the game on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network.
