The Nashville Predators continue their four-game homestand today when they host the Los Angeles Kings for a special 12:30 p.m. CT puck drop at Bridgestone Arena. This afternoon’s contest is the second of three meetings between the two clubs this season; the Preds fell to the Kings by a 3-0 final in November.
Nashville is coming off of a 5-4 overtime loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday night with points in three of their last four outings. Today, on Tim McGraw Bobblehead Day for the first 10,000 fans inside Bridgestone Arena, the Preds will look to continue their style of play that has brought them success more often than not as of late.
“We're just plugging away, or trying to chip away, trying to get back to even .500 at home, and go from there,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said following Thursday’s game. “We've had some overtime losses…and we let some games slip away and we won some. So, I think we're playing well enough to win two out of three…and when you play that well, sometimes you can get on a little run. And that's kind of what we're aiming for.”
The Predators had a limited practice on Friday with newly acquired defenseman Justin Barron among those participating. Following Thursday’s game, the Preds reassigned defensemen Marc Del Gaizo and Kevin Gravel to Milwaukee (AHL).
Predators Captain Roman Josi practiced on Friday but remains on IR with a lower-body injury. Defenseman Jeremy Lauzon returned to the Nashville lineup on Thursday after missing 10 games with a lower-body injury of his own.
Last Time Out:
Jonathan Marchessault, Luke Evangelista, Steven Stamkos and Brady Skjei all tallied in Nashville’s 5-4 OT loss to the Penguins on Thursday. Defenseman Luke Schenn recorded his 200th career point with an assist, and center Ryan O’Reilly collected his 500th career assist, just the third player from the 2009 NHL Draft to reach the milestone.
The Good Guys:
Filip Forsberg now leads the Preds in scoring with nine goals and 24 points, followed by Josi (7g-16a) with 23 points and Marchessault (9g-11a) with 20 points. Stamkos has nine goals and 19 points on the season while O’Reilly has seven goals and 18 points. Juuse Saros is 7-14-6 in net for Nashville; Justus Annunen is 7-5-0 on the season.
The Opposition:
The Kings have points in each of their last three outings, including a 7-3 victory in Philadelphia on Thursday night. Anze Kopitar (10g-27a) leads the team with 37 points, followed by Andrian Kempe (16g-15a) with 31 points and Alex Laferriere (12g-12a) with 24 points. Former Preds forward Kevin Fiala has 12 goals and 20 points, while Warren Foegele has nine goals and 17 points. Former Predators goaltender David Rittich is 10-7-0 in net this season; Darcy Kuemper is 8-2-4.
All-Time Meetings:
Nashville is 43-30-(3)-9 all-time against Los Angeles, including an 18-17-(3)-3 record at Bridgestone Arena.
The Predators are 12-5-3 in their last 20 games against the Kings; they are 6-3-1 in their last 10; and 2-2-1 in their last five games at Bridgestone Arena.
Overall, the Predators have lost only five times in regulation to the Kings in their last 30 meetings (19-5-6), with Nashville having won 13 of 18.
Notables Versus Los Angeles:
Steven Stamkos has recorded 24 points (10g-14a) in 22 career games against Los Angeles. Stamkos has points in 10 of his last 13 games vs. Los Angeles (9g-10a) and has posted a multi-point effort in five of his last seven games vs. the Kings (7g-5a).
Roman Josi has tallied 27 points (5g-22a) in 34 career games vs. the Kings, including 16 points (1g-15a) in his last 15 meetings against Los Angeles. He posted three assists in the Jan. 21, 2023, meeting between the two teams.
Filip Forsberg has nine points (4g-5a) in his last 16 contests against Los Angeles, and 13 points (5g-8a) in 27 career games vs. the Kings. He matched his career high for shots in a game with nine on Oct. 12, 2019, at Los Angeles.
Juuse Saros is 6-3-1 against the Kings in his career, including a .924 save percentage and 2.48 goals against average.
Kings forward Kevin Fiala recorded 97 points (45g-52a) in 204 games with the Predators from 2015-19.
Los Angeles forward Tanner Jeannot played the first 152 games of his NHL career with Nashville from 2021-23, posting 62 points (34g-28a).
Los Angeles goaltender David Rittich played in 17 games for Nashville in 2021-22, going 6-3-4.
Milestone Watch:
Filip Forsberg is three power-play goals (78) from passing Shea Weber (80) for the most in Predators history and is four goals from 300 in his NHL career.
The Predators franchise is five wins from 1,000.
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for this afternoon’s contest begins at 12 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on FanDuel Sports Network South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley and Hal Gill. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic, analyst Chris Mason and rinkside reporter Kara Hammer will have the call on the television side.
Voice of the Predators 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 Chase McCabe beginning one hour before puck drop. The game will also be broadcast in Spanish on El Jefe which airs on 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM and 810 AM. (El partido también se transmite en español por El Jefe en 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM y 810 AM.)
