Game Day: Preds at Flames Preview

The Nashville Predators continue their swing through the Great White North with a visit to the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
The puck drops at Scotiabank Saddledome at 8 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised on Bally Sports South. Here's everything you need to know:

Line 'Em Up

Below are Nashville's lines from Tuesday's game at Edmonton:
Forsberg - Granlund - Duchene
Niederreiter - Johansen - Sherwood
Trenin - Sissons - Jeannot
Smith - McCarron - Tolvanen
Josi - Fabbro
Ekholm - Carrier
McDonagh - Lauzon
Saros

The Good Guys

• Roman Josi has five points (1g-4a) in his last three games after recording two assists on Tuesday at Edmonton. He scored his first goal and notched his first multi-point (1g-2a) outing of the season on Oct. 27 vs. St. Louis. It was his 25th career three-point game, trailing only Erik Karlsson and Victor Hedman for the most such performances among NHL defensemen since his debut season in 2011-12. Josi led all NHL blueliners in three-point games last season (12) en route to being a finalist for the Norris Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award.
• Filip Forsberg took over the team lead in points with 10 (3g-7a) after recording his second three-point game of the season Tuesday at Edmonton. He has seven points (1g-6a) in his last four games dating back to Oct. 22 vs. Philadelphia. He tallied three assists on Oct. 27 vs. St. Louis. Tuesday was Forsberg's 32nd career three-point game, the most in Predators history.
• Mikael Granlund has opened 2022-23 with eight assists and nine points in his first 10 games. It is the 10th instance of a player in franchise history recording at least eight assists in the team's first 10 games of a season. The last to do so was Roman Josi in 2021-22 (8a). Granlund recorded a career-high 53 assists last season, also the second-most on the Predators. His 53 assists were the most by a center and the third-most overall in a season in Predators history.
• Nino Niederreiter, who signed as a free agent with Nashville in July, has five goals in his first 10 games with the Predators to begin 2022-23. Two of his five goals have been on the power play, with the most recent coming on Tuesday at Edmonton. Niederreiter has scored at least one goal on the man advantage in each of his last 10 seasons.
• Predators defensemen have taken 241 shot attempts, the second-most among all NHL teams, trailing only Carolina (272). Nashville's 108 shots on goal from blueliners are the fifth-most in the NHL. Josi leads all NHL defensemen in shots on goal with 46.
• The Predators are sixth in the NHL in faceoff percentage (53.6 percent). Among NHL players who have taken at least 150 faceoffs, Ryan Johansen is first at 65.7 percent; Colton Sissons is 15th at 54.9 percent. Sissons is also tied for second in the NHL in shorthanded faceoffs won (20).

The Other Guys

The Flames enter Thursday's game ranked fifth in the Pacific Division with a 5-3-0 record. They will look to avoid their third consecutive loss after dropping their last two decisions to Edmonton and Seattle.
Nazem Kadri, who won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022 before signing with the Flames as a free agent, leads all Calgary skaters with 10 points (5g-5a) through eight games.

All-Time Meetings

The Predators are 38-25-(4)-13 all-time against the Flames, including a 17-13-(3)-5 record on the road. This is the first of three matchups between Nashville and Calgary in 2022-23; it is the first of two at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Nashville went 2-0-1 vs. Calgary last season, with all three games requiring overtime (two went to a shootout). The Preds have only lost three times in regulation to the Flames since Dec. 15, 2015 (9-3-6) and have picked up at least one point in 24 of their last 31 games (16-7-8).

Notables vs. Calgary

• Josi has four goals and 19 assists in 29 career games vs. Calgary.
• Johansen has eight points (3g-5a) in his last 12 meetings with the Flames, and 14 points (5g-9a) in 27 career games against Calgary.
• Juuse Saros is 6-1-1 with a .918 save percentage in nine career games vs. the Flames.
• Mikael Granlund became the fourth player in NHL history to score a game-tying goal in the final 10 seconds of regulation and the overtime winner (regular season and playoffs) on Feb. 27, 2020 vs. Calgary.
• Michael McCarron scored his first career NHL goal on March 20, 2016 vs. Calgary.
• Matt Duchene became the first 40-goal scorer in Predators history on April 19, 2022 vs. Calgary.

Last Time Out

With Tuesday's loss to Edmonton, Nashville moved to 1-3-0 on the road in 2022-23. The Predators allowed a season-high seven goals - including four in the first period - and dished out a franchise-record 60 hits (since the stat began being tracked in 2005). All but one Predators skater recorded a hit, with Nino Niederreiter and Cole Smith both notching a game-high seven each.
Seven different Predators tallied a point, led by Filip Forsberg's three (1g-2a). Nashville's power play went 2-for-2, and the Predators are 4-for-12 on the man advantage in their last four games.
Mattias Ekholm scored his first goal of the season 34 seconds into the game, and Duchene tallied his 400th career NHL assist on Ekholm's goal. Josi also notched his second multi-point outing of the season (2a).

Watch & Listen

Coverage for Thursday's game begins at 7:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! Pregame show on Bally Sports South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and analyst Chris Mason will have the call on the television side.
Max Herz and Hal Gill will call the game on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network. The game will also be broadcast in Spanish on El Jefe which airs on 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM and 810 AM.