Game Day: Preds vs. Islanders Preview

The Nashville Predators have won back-to-back home games for the first time this season, and they will look to extend the win streak to three when they host the New York Islanders on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
The puck drops at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South and 102.5 The Game. Here's everything you need to know:

Line 'Em Up

Below are Nashville's lines from Tuesday's game vs. Minnesota:
Forsberg - Pärssinen - Granlund
Trenin - Jankowski - Jeannot
Niederreiter - Johansen - Duchene
Smith - Sissons - Tolvanen
Josi - Fabbro
Ekholm - Carrier
McDonagh - Lauzon
Saros

The Good Guys

• Juuso Parssinen, 21, made his NHL debut on Saturday vs. the NY Rangers and scored his first career NHL goal on his first shot.
• Roman Josi has nine points (3g-6a) in his last nine games after assisting on Matt Duchene's game-winning goal on Tuesday vs. Minnesota. The assist gave Josi a point streak of three games (1g-2a) that began on Nov. 10.
• Filip Forsberg (483) passed Martin Erat (481) and moved into sole possession of third place on the Predators' all-time points list on Nov. 8 at Seattle. After tallying an assist on Saturday vs. the NY Rangers, he leads Nashville in points with 15 (5g-10a) and has three multi-point outings in his last nine games.
• Mikael Granlund has opened 2022-23 with 11 assists and 12 points in his first 16 games. He has five points (5a) in his last seven games.
• Nino Niederreiter nine points (7g-2a) in his first 16 games with the Predators to begin 2022-23. Two of his team-leading seven goals have been on the power play.
• Among NHL players who have taken at least 200 faceoffs, Ryan Johansen is second at 64.2 percent. Johansen has won at least 50 percent of his faceoffs in a franchise-record 20 consecutive games.
• Colton Sissons is tied for first in the NHL in shorthanded faceoffs won (35).

The Other Guys

The Islanders (11-6-0) are also riding a two-game win streak into Thursday's game.
Brock Nelson (9g-9a) and Mathew Barzal (0g-18a) lead the Islanders with 18 points each. Nelson's nine goals are also a team high. Goaltender Ilya Sorokin is tied for third in the NHL with a .932 save percentage.

All-Time Meetings

The Predators are 20-8-(0)-3 all-time against the Islanders, including an 11-4-(0)-1 record at Bridgestone Arena. This is the first of two matchups between Nashville and the NY Islanders in 2022-23 and the first and only at home.
Nashville went 2-0-0 vs. the NY Islanders last season, earning a 3-2 shootout win at home on Oct. 30, 2021. The Predators have earned at least a point in 10 of their last 11 meetings with the Islanders (9-1-1), including wins in seven straight.

Notables vs. NY Islanders

• Mattias Ekholm owned a six-game point streak vs. the Islanders (2g-6a) from Oct. 28, 2017-Feb. 13, 2020. He has 10 points (2g-8a) in 15 career games against the Islanders.
• Forsberg has 11 points (6g-5a) in 14 career games against the Islanders, including points in four of his last seven games (4g-2a).
• Josi has four points (1g-3a) in his last five games vs. New York. He recorded five (5a) of his nine career points (2g-7a) against the Islanders in a four-game span from Feb. 19, 2015-March 17, 2016 and scored the game-winning goal in overtime vs. New York on Feb. 5, 2018.
• Niederreiter was drafted by the Islanders in the first round (fifth overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft.

Last Time Out

Nashville improved to 4-3-1 at home in 2022-23 with Tuesday's 2-1 win over Minnesota. Duchene (1g-1a) and Johansen (2a) both recorded multi-point outings; it was Johansen's first multi-point effort of the season. Duchene assisted on Niederreiter's goal for his 700th career NHL point, then scored his first game-winning goal of the season just 44 seconds later on the power play.
Juuse Saros made 32 saves to give him wins in consecutive games for the first time this season. He has made at least 30 saves in six of his last seven starts.

Watch & Listen

Coverage for Thursday's game begins at 6:30 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, 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.

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