Pluses, minuses for Predators-Maple Leafs, Sharks-Kings

NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will offer his thoughts for big games each week throughout the season.

The Nashville Predators (19-14-6) visit the Toronto Maple Leafs (25-9-7) at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, TVAS). Then, the San Jose Sharks (13-21-8) visit the Los Angeles Kings (24-14-6) at Crypto.com Arena (10 p.m. ET; TNT, SN NOW).
Here's my breakdown of the games.

Predators

Pluses: Juuse Saros is playing like the goalie who was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy last season. He made 64 saves in a 5-3 win at the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday and followed that up with 38 saves in a 3-0 win at the Ottawa Senators on Monday. He has a 2.67 goals-against average and .921 save percentage and gives Nashville a chance to win every night. Roman Josi got off to a slow start this season after leading defensemen with 96 points (23 goals, 73 assists) last season but he has points in seven of his past nine games (nine points; four goals, five assists). And forward Filip Forsberg has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in his past seven games.

Minuses: The Predators have battled consistency this season; they have won four straight, but that followed a stretch where they went 3-5-4. They need centers Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen to each rediscover his production from last season; Duchene has 11 goals in 38 games after an NHL career-high 43 last season, and Johansen has 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 39 games after he had 63 points (26 goals, 37 assists) last season. Nashville also ranks 28th in the League on the power play (17.3 percent).

Maple Leafs

Pluses: Mitchell Marner has had a great season, including a 23-game point streak (32 points; 11 goals, 21 assists) from Oct. 27-Dec. 13.The forward leads the Maple Leafs with 49 points (15 goals, 34 assists) and is their spark plug. Scoring has also been supplied by center Auston Matthews (47 points; 20 goals, 27 assists), forward William Nylander (45 points; 22 goals, 23 assists) and center John Tavares (40 points; 19 goals, 21 assists). Goalie Ilya Samsonov is 12-3-1 with a 2.29 GAA, .916 save percentage and two shutouts, but has been almost unbeatable at Scotiabank Arena, where he's 10-0-1 with a 1.77 GAA, .931 save percentage and two shutouts this season. I'd expect him to get the start.

Minuses: Matthews will not play Wednesday because of a nagging undisclosed injury and is day to day. And though Toronto has been very consistent this season, it ranks middle of the pack on the penalty kill, 17th in the NHL (78.6 percent).

Sharks

Pluses: It's all about the resurgence of Erik Karlsson, who leads League defensemen in points (55; 13 goals, 42 assists) and is on pace for more than 100 points, something that hasn't been accomplished at the position in the NHL since Brian Leetch had 102 points (22 goals, 80 assists) for the New York Rangers in 1991-92. San Jose is also receiving offense from forward Timo Meier (41 points; 23 goals, 18 assists) and centers Tomas Hertl (38 points; 13 goals, 25 assists) and Logan Couture (34 points; 15 goals, 19 assists). And it ranks second in the NHL on the penalty kill (84.6 percent).

Minuses: It has been a tough, rebuilding season for the Sharks with a new coach (David Quinn) and not having Brent Burns after trading the defenseman to the Carolina Hurricanes on July 13. They're tied for 26th in the League in goals against per game (3.64) and have won consecutive games three times this season. The good news Wednesday is they're on the road, where they're 9-10-2, compared with a 4-11-6 mark at home.

Kings

Pluses: Pheonix Copley has come in and really helped stabilize the goaltending in Los Angeles. He has started 13 of the past 17 games since his season debut Dec. 6, going 11-2-0 with a 2.56 GAA and .904 save percentage. Forward Kevin Fiala has 46 points (15 goals, 31 assists) in 44 games after he established NHL career-highs in goals (33), assists (52) and points (85) last season. Forward Viktor Arvidsson (12 goals, 21 assists) and center Anze Kopitar (11 goals, 22 assists) each is tied for second on the Kings with 33 points. They come into Wednesday 9-2-1 in their past 12 games after surprisingly making the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season and if they want to contend again, they need to win games like this.

Minuses: Los Angeles is in second place in the Pacific Division, but have a minus-4 goal differential. What that tells me is the Kings have played in a lot of close games; they're 12-3-6 in one-goal games. The only other negative is they rank 27th on the penalty kill (73.4 percent).