Game Day: Preds vs. Hurricanes Preview

The Nashville Predators (39-30-8) will host the Carolina Hurricanes (50-18-9) Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
The puck drops at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+/Hulu, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio. Here's everything you need to know:

Line 'Em Up

Below are Nashville's lines from Tuesday vs. Vegas:
Afanasyev - Glass - Tomasino
Sherwood - Novak - Evangelista
Trenin - Sissons - Asplund
Leonard - Jankowski - McCarron
McDonagh - Fabbro
Stastney - Barrie
Gravel - Foote
Lankinen

Last Time Out

Nashville improved to 20-14-4 at home in 2022-23 with Tuesday's OT win over Vegas. The Predators closed out their three-game, regular-season series against the Golden Knights with a 1-1-1 record and are now 11-8 in overtime/shootouts this season (6-6 in OT; 5-2 in shootout).
Cody Glass scored his first career overtime goal as part of a two-point game (1g-1a). Tommy Novak had two goals and an assist for his fifth three-point game this season, tied with Matt Duchene and Roman Josi for the most on the Predators.
Kevin Lankinen recorded his 11th 30-save performance of 2022-23 and has now won six of his last nine starts (6-3-0). Kevin Gravel blocked a game-high six shots, including two on a 1:46 long 5-on-3 that Nashville killed off in the first period.

All-Time Meetings

The Predators are 18-19-(1)-4 all-time against the Hurricanes, including an 11-8-(0)-1 record at Bridgestone Arena. This is the second and final matchup between Nashville and Carolina in 2022-23 and the first and only at home.
Nashville is 1-0-0 against Carolina this season, earning a 5-3 win in Raleigh on Jan. 5. Juuse Saros made 64 saves in the victory, a franchise record and tied for the third-most in a game in NHL history.

Notables vs. Carolina

• Ryan McDonagh has 19 career points (6g-13a) against Carolina, the most among current Predators skaters.
• Glass scored on Jan. 5 at Carolina, giving him one goal in two career games against the Hurricanes.
• Colton Sissons has four points (2g-2a) and a +2 rating in 18 career contests vs. Carolina.

The Good Guys

• Saros is 27-16-6 with a 2.63 goals-against average and .921 save percentage in his last 49 games dating back to Nov. 12. His 27 wins in that time frame are tied for the sixth-most in the NHL; he is also tied for third in save percentage since Nov. 12 (among goalies with at least 30 GP).
• Luke Evangelista has 13 points (6g-7a) in his first 19 career NHL games after tallying an assist on Tuesday vs. Vegas. He also had three points (1g-2a) on Saturday vs. St. Louis and a career-high four points (2g-2a) on March 21 at Buffalo.
• Novak has 41 points (17g-24a) in 45 games with Nashville since being recalled from Milwaukee (AHL) on Dec. 19. He tallied a career-high four points (1g-3a) on Saturday vs. St. Louis and followed it up with his fifth three-point outing of the season on Tuesday vs. Vegas (2g-1a), giving him seven points (3g-4a) in his last three games. In a 24-game span since Feb. 18, Novak has posted 30 points (13g-17a) - tied for the eighth-most among NHL skaters - including eight multi-point efforts. Since his season debut, Novak has tallied the most points among Predators skaters.
• Since making his season debut on Feb. 13 vs. Arizona, Philip Tomasino has recorded 18 points (5g-13a) in 26 games. He has 12 points (3g-9a) in his last 14 games after picking up an assist on Tuesday vs. Vegas.
• Glass owns 30 points (13g-17a) in his last 51 games. He's also found the scoresheet in 18 of his last 36 games (10g-12a), including his first career overtime goal on Tuesday vs. Vegas. Glass has established career highs in goals (14), assists (19) and points (33) this season.

The Other Guys

The Hurricanes, who are in first place in the Metropolitan Division, will look to keep a three-game win streak alive as they face the Predators on Thursday. Carolina is coming off a 4-3 overtime victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday thanks to Martin Necas, who now leads the NHL in OT winners with four.
Necas leads the Hurricanes in points with 69 (28g-41a), and Sebastian Aho has scored a team-high 34 goals. Carolina's goaltending tandem of Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta rank among the Top 10 goalies in the NHL with save percentages of 2.42 and 2.20, respectively.

Watch & Listen

Thursday's game will be the first in an NHL double-header on ESPN. Kevin Weekes, P.K. Subban and Ryan Callahan will have the call on the television side, with studio coverage from Steve Levy, Arda Öcal and Chris Chelios.
Pete Weber and Hal Gill will call the game on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network, with pregame, postgame and intermission coverage by Max Herz. The game will also be broadcast in Spanish on El Jefe which airs on 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM and 810 AM.