Game Day: Preds vs. Maple Leafs Preview

The Nashville Predators (36-27-8) will host the Toronto Maple Leafs (43-20-9) Sunday at Bridgestone Arena.
The puck drops at 5 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on NHL Network, Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio. Here's everything you need to know:

Line 'Em Up

Below are Nashville's lines from Saturday vs. Seattle:
Tomasino - Glass - Duchene
Sherwood - Novak - Evangelista
Trenin - Sissons - Smith
Afanasyev - Jankowski - Asplund
McDonagh - Fabbro
Barrie - Gross
Lauzon - Foote
Saros

Last Time Out

Nashville moved to 18-13-4 at home in 2022-23 with Saturday's loss to Seattle. The Predators closed out their three-game, regular-season series against the Kraken with a 1-2-0 record.
Tyson Barrie (1g-1a), Matt Duchene (1g-1a) and Philip Tomasino (2a) all recorded two points. Barrie scored his second goal as a member of the Predators, while Duchene's effort gave him five points (3g-2a) in his last three games. Tomasino now has four multi-point games this season.

All-Time Meetings

The Predators are 14-12-(1)-2 all-time against the Maple Leafs, including a 6-5-(0)-1 record at Bridgestone Arena. This is the second and final matchup between Nashville and Toronto in 2022-23 and the first and only at home.
Nashville is 0-1-0 against Toronto this season, dropping a 2-1 decision on Jan. 11 at Scotiabank Arena. Overall, the Predators have earned at least a point in nine of their last 15 games (7-6-2) against the Maple Leafs.

Notables vs. Toronto

• Filip Forsberg broke David Legwand's record for most goals in Predators history by scoring his 211th on March 19, 2022 against Toronto. He owns eight goals and 13 points in 13 career games vs. the Maple Leafs.
• Ryan Johansen has tallied 14 points (6g-8a) in 19 career games against Toronto.
• Haliburton, Ont., native Duchene owns 15 points (5g-10a) in 20 career meetings with the Maple Leafs. He has points in five of his last six games against Toronto (2g-4a).
• Tyson Barrie has 10 points (1g-9a) in 20 career games vs. Toronto.
• Luke Evangelista is a native of Toronto.
• Maple Leafs forward Calle Jarnkrok skated in 508 games for Nashville from 2013-21, tallying 211 points (94g-117a).
• Toronto forward Wayne Simmonds posted three points (1g-2a) in 17 games for the Predators in the 2018-19 season.

The Good Guys

• Evangelista has nine points (5g-4a) in his first 13 career NHL games after recording a career-high four points (2g-2a) on Tuesday at Buffalo. Evangelista became the second rookie in Predators history to record a four-point game, joining Dan Hamhuis (1g-4a on March 4, 2004 at Pittsburgh). All four of his points came in the second period, tying Forsberg's (2g-2a in the third on March 21, 2022 at Anaheim) franchise record for points in a single frame. Evangelista recorded three points in a span of 6:01, marking the fastest a rookie has ever done so for the Predators. The previous mark of three points in 6:40 was set by Andy Berenzweig on Dec. 29, 2001 vs. Detroit. Since his NHL debut on Feb. 28 vs. Pittsburgh, Evangelista is third among NHL rookies in points (9).
• Novak has 33 points (14g-19a) in 40 games with Nashville since being recalled from Milwaukee (AHL) on Dec. 19. In a 19-game span since Feb. 18, Novak has posted 22 points (10g-12a) - tied for the 11th-most among NHL skaters - including six multi-point efforts. Since his season debut, only Roman Josi (12g-24a) has posted more points than Novak for Nashville.
• Since making his season debut on Feb. 13 vs. Arizona, Tomasino has recorded 15 points (4g-11a) in 20 games. He has nine points (2g-7a) in his last eight games after recording two assists on Saturday vs. Seattle.
• Duchene has 35 points (16g-19a) in his last 43 games, including a three-point effort on Tuesday at Buffalo (2g-1a). He's recorded points in 12 of his last 26 games (11g-11a), tallying multiple points in seven of those outings.

The Other Guys

The Maple Leafs currently sit at second place in the Atlantic Division. They are 3-2-0 in their last five games after a 5-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Auston Matthews tallied two goals in the loss and has eight points (5g-3a) in his last five games.
Mitchell Marner leads the Leafs in points with 93 (28g-65a), adding a point (1a) in Saturday's loss to Carolina. William Nylander is tied with Matthews for a team-high 36 goals.

Watch & Listen

Coverage for Saturday's game begins at 4:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on Bally Sports South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley alongside analyst Hal Gill. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and analyst Chris Mason will have the call on the television side.
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. The game will also be broadcast in Spanish on El Jefe which airs on 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM and 810 AM.