Predators at Red Wings preview

PREDATORS (35-14-9) at RED WINGS (24-25-9)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-D, FS-TN, NHL.TV

Nashville is 0-6-1 against Detroit since a 6-4 win on Dec. 30, 2013. The Predators will likely face Jimmy Howard after the Red Wings traded goaltender Petr Mrazek to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday. The Predators won't miss Mrazek, who made 31 saves in Detroit's 3-1 win at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday and is 6-0-0 lifetime against Nashville with a 2.00 goals-against average. Howard is 9-7-1 against Nashville with a 2.34 GAA.
Nashville, which is tied with the Winnipeg Jets for first place in the Central Division, is coming off a 5-2 win against the Ottawa Senators on Monday. The Predators had lost their previous two games.
The Red Wings lost 3-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday. They trail the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders by seven points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past 10 games, including two goals in the win against Ottawa.
Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past seven games. He is second on the team with 40 points (eight goals, 32 assists) in 58 games.

They said it

"Every team is winning, it feels like, in our division. Two (losses) in a row is even too much, so we definitely couldn't have three in a row. That would hurt us too much." ­-- Predators forward Filip Forsberg
"We had to give Petr a $4 million qualifying offer, and I wasn't comfortable doing that. My focus right now isn't on the 2017-18 season or even on 2018-19. We need to add draft picks, because this a draft-pick league now." -- Red Wings general manager Ken Holland on trading goaltender Petr Mrazek

Predators projected lineup

Filip Forsberg -- Ryan Johansen -- Viktor Arvidsson
Kevin Fiala -- Kyle Turris -- Craig Smith
Scott Hartnell -- Nick Bonino -- Calle Jarnkrok
Miikka Salomaki -- Colton Sissons -- Austin Watson
Mattias Ekholm -- P.K. Subban
Roman Josi -- Ryan Ellis
Alexei Emelin -- Yannick Weber
Pekka Rinne
Juuse Saros
Scratched: Pontus Aberg, Anthony Bitetto, Matt Irwin
Injured: None

Red Wings projected lineup

Anthony Mantha -- Henrik Zetterberg -- Gustav Nyquist
Tomas Tatar -- Dylan Larkin -- Andreas Athanasiou
Darren Helm -- Frans Nielsen -- Justin Abdelkader
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Luke Glendening -- Martin Frk
Danny DeKeyser -- Nick Jensen
Jonathan Ericsson -- Trevor Daley
Niklas Kronwall -- Xavier Ouellet
Jimmy Howard
Jared Coreau
Scratched: David Booth, Luke Witkowski
Injured: Mike Green (upper body)

Status report

The Predators did not have a morning skate. … The Red Wings recalled Coreau from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League. Green will miss his third straight game with an upper-body injury.

Stat pack

Rinne is 11-1-1 with a .930 save percentage and one shutout in his past 13 starts. … The Red Wings have scored two goals or fewer in eight of their past 12 games.