Predators at Panthers preview

PREDATORS (51-17-11) at PANTHERS (40-30-8)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-TN, NHL.TV

The Predators lead the NHL with 113 points, five ahead of the Winnipeg Jets in the division, with three games remaining. They will clinch the division with a win. They also will clinch if they earn one point and a Jets regulation loss at the Montreal Canadiens.
Nashville will clinch the Western Conference with either a victory against the Panthers, one point combined with a Jets loss or a Jets regulation loss and a Vegas Golden Knights loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
The Panthers are five points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. They will be eliminated from postseason contention with a regulation loss, a Devils win against the New York Rangers, and if the Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers each earn at least one point Tuesday.

Players to watch

Predators forward Filip Forsberg has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past two games.
Panthers forward Evgenii Dadonov has scored a goal in four of his past five games.

They said it

"The guys know that. They know it's a big night." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette on the chance to clinch first place in the Western Conference
"It's really intense. The boys know it's do or die, but we're not going to go down without a fight. We know what's at stake here. We've worked too hard this year to let it go easy." -- Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar

Predators projected lineup

Filip Forsberg -- Ryan Johansen -- Craig Smith
Kevin Fiala -- Kyle Turris -- Ryan Hartman
Eeli Tolvanen -- Nick Bonino -- Colton Sissons
Mikka Salomaki -- Mike Fisher -- Austin Watson
Roman Josi -- Ryan Ellis
Mattias Ekholm -- P.K. Subban
Alexei Emelin -- Matt Irwin
Pekka Rinne
Juuse Saros
Scratched:Anthony Bitetto, Scott Hartnell
Injured:Yannick Weber (upper body), Calle Jarnkrok (upper body), Viktor Arvidsson (lower body)

Panthers projected lineup

Evgenii Dadonov -- Aleksander Barkov -- Nick Bjugstad
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Vincent Trocheck -- Jamie McGinn
Frank Vatrano -- Jared McCann -- Denis Malgin
Micheal Haley -- Derek MacKenzie -- Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Michael Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
MacKenzie Weegar -- Alexander Petrovic
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched:Connor Brickley, Radim Vrbata, Maxim Mamin, Henrik Borgstrom, Ian McCoshen
Injured: None

Status report

Arvidsson took part in the morning skate but is expected to miss his second consecutive game. … The Panthers did not have a morning skate after a 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday.

Stat pack

The Predators need one victory to break their single-season record set in 2006-07. … Barkov is the first Panthers player with 50 assists in one season since Olli Jokinen in 2006-07. He's two shy of Viktor Kozlov's team record set in 1999-00.