Game Day: Preds vs. Panthers Preview

The Nashville Predators (25-21-6) will meet the Florida Panthers (28-24-6) for the first time this season in a Saturday matinee at Bridgestone Arena.
The puck drops at 1 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio. Here's everything you need to know:

Line 'Em Up

Below are Nashville's lines from Thursday vs. Boston:
Granlund - Johansen - Duchene
Niederreiter - Glass - Tomasino
Trenin - Sissons - Jeannot
Smith - Novak - Parssinen
McDonagh - Josi
Ekholm - Lauzon
Gravel - Fabbro
Saros

The Good Guys

• Goaltender Juuse Saros is 17-9-4 with a 2.58 goals-against average and .924 save percentage in his last 30 games dating back to Nov. 12. His 17 wins in that time frame are tied for the fourth-most in the NHL.
• Roman Josi owns the Predators team lead in points with 44 (13g-31a). He has 40 points (12g-28a) in his last 43 games after tallying a power-play goal Monday vs. Arizona. Josi has recorded at least one point in 15 of his last 19 contests.
• Matt Duchene has 21 points (10g-11a) in his last 24 games, including his first multi-goal game of the season on Jan. 24 vs. Los Angeles. He's recorded points in five of his last seven games (5g-3a), tallying multiple points in three of those outings.
• After opening the season with three points (1g-2a) in his first 16 appearances (Oct. 7-Dec. 12), Cody Glass owns 16 points (6g-10a) in his last 26 games. He's found the scoresheet in four of his last seven contests (2g-3a), and his 16 points since Dec. 13 are tied for the third-most among Predators forwards in that time span. Glass has established career highs in goals (7), assists (12) and points (19) this season.

The Other Guys

Nashville is Florida's final stop on a four-game road trip. With a 6-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday, the Panthers pulled even with the Capitals for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk ranks fourth among all NHL skaters in total points with 75 (27g-48a). Florida also packs an offensive punch on the blueline, led by Brandon Montour's 46 points (10g-36a).

All-Time Meetings

The Predators are 18-19-(3)-2 all-time against the Panthers, including a 9-9-(2)-1 record at Bridgestone Arena. This is the first of two matchups between Nashville and Florida in 2022-23 and the first and only home.
Nashville went 1-1-0 against Florida last season, picking up a 6-4 road win on Feb. 22, 2022; the Panthers claimed the lone meeting at Bridgestone Arena, 4-1, on April 9, 2022.

Notables vs. Florida

• Filip Forsberg has 20 points (5g-15a) in 19 career games against Florida, with 10 of those points (3g-7a) coming in six contests in 2020-21. He recorded his first of two career five-point games on Feb. 4, 2021 at Florida (2g-3a).
• Ryan Johansen posted a three-game point streak vs. Florida from Feb. 4-March 6, 2021, recording a goal and two assists. He owns 12 points (4g-8a) in 26 career contests against the Panthers.
• Josi has 19 points (7g-12a) in 22 career games vs. Florida.
• Duchene owns 23 points (11g-12a), including four multi-goal games, in 26 meetings with the Panthers.
• Colton Sissons went 16-for-16 in faceoffs on Feb. 22, 2022 at Florida, becoming the fourth NHL player since 1997-98 to take at least 16 faceoffs in a game and win them all.
• Yakov Trenin (Oct. 19, 2019) and Kevin Lankinen (Jan. 19, 2021) made their NHL debuts against Florida.
• Panthers forward Patric Hornqvist was selected by the Predators in the seventh round (230th overall) of the 2005 NHL Draft. He posted 216 points (106g-110a) in 363 games with Nashville from 2008-14.
• Florida forward Nick Cousins played in 120 games for Nashville from 2020-22, tallying 40 points (14g-26a).

Last Time Out

Nashville moved to 14-10-3 at home in 2022-23 with Thursday's loss to Boston. The Predators were shut out for the fourth time this season and first since Dec. 12 at St. Louis. Tanner Jeannot led all skaters with eight hits; Josi skated a game-high 24:22 and had three shots, nine shot attempts, four blocked shots and two hits.

Watch & Listen

Coverage for Saturday's game begins at 12:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on Bally Sports South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley alongside analyst Hal Gill. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and analyst Chris Mason will have the call on the television side.
Pete Weber and Jay More 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.