Game Day: Preds vs. Jets Preview

The Nashville Predators (34-25-7) will conclude their three-game homestand with a Saturday matinee against the Winnipeg Jets (38-28-3) 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. Chicago:
Tomasino - Glass - Duchene
Sherwood - Novak - Evangelista
Trenin - Sissons - Smith
Asplund - Jankowski - McCarron
Josi - Fabbro
Lauzon - Barrie
Gravel - Foote
Saros

Last Time Out

Nashville moved to 17-12-3 at home in 2022-23 with Thursday's loss to Chicago, and the Predators closed out their three-game regular-season series against the Blackhawks with a 2-1-0 record. The loss snapped Nashville's 16-game point streak vs. Chicago (13-0-3), tied for the longest in franchise history (Columbus from 2006-08).
The Predators outshot the Blackhawks 36-21, including by a 15-5 margin in the third period. Roman Josi scored his 18th goal of the season to make it a 2-1 game with 25 seconds remaining in the third period.

All-Time Meetings

The Predators are 28-28-(1)-5 all-time against the Jets franchise, including a 17-9-(0)-0 record at Bridgestone Arena. This is the third of four matchups between Nashville and Winnipeg in 2022-23 and the second and final at home.
Nashville is 1-0-1 against Winnipeg this season, earning a 2-1 win at home on Jan. 24. The Predators picked up a point in the first meeting, a 2-1 overtime loss at Canada Life Centre on Dec. 15.

Notables vs. Winnipeg

• Josi tied the Preds franchise record for assists and points in a game with five on Feb. 27, 2018 at Winnipeg. He has 25 points (4g-21a) in 33 career games vs. the Jets.
• Ryan Johansen is averaging nearly a point per game in his career against Winnipeg, tallying 13 goals and 15 assists for 28 points in 31 games. His nine points (3g-6a) in Nashville's 2018 Second Round series vs. Winnipeg were the second-most in a single series in team history.
• Filip Forsberg recorded a five-game point streak (5a) vs. Winnipeg from March 13, 2018-March 1, 2019. He has picked up at least one point in 11 of his last 19 contests against the Jets and has posted 20 points (4g-16a) in 32 career games vs. Winnipeg.
• Colton Sissons made his NHL debut on Jan. 28, 2014 at Winnipeg.
• Tommy Novak notched his first career three-point game on Oct. 23, 2021 at Winnipeg (3a).
• Cody Glass is a Winnipeg native; Predators Assistant Coach Dan Lambert is a native of St. Malo, Man.
• Advisor and Future General Manager Barry Trotz hails from Dauphin, Man.
• The Predators acquired a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft from Winnipeg for forward Nino Niederreiter on Feb. 25. Niederreiter tallied 28 points (18g-10a) in 56 games for Nashville to begin the 2022-23 season.
• Jets goaltender David Rittich played in 17 games for Nashville in 2021-22, going 6-3-1.

The Good Guys

• Juuse Saros is 23-13-5 with a 2.57 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in his last 41 games dating back to Nov. 12. His 23 wins in that time frame are tied for the fourth-most in the NHL; he is third in save percentage since Nov. 12 (among goalies with at least 20 GP).
• Josi owns the Predators team lead in points with 57 (18g-39a). He has 53 points (17g-36a) in his last 56 games after scoring on Thursday vs. Chicago. Since Oct. 27, Josi leads NHL blueliners in goals (18); he is tied for third in points (58) and ninth in assists (40).
• Tommy Novak has 29 points (13g-16a) in 35 games with Nashville since being recalled from Milwaukee (AHL) on Dec. 19. In a 14-game span since Feb. 18, Novak has posted 18 points (9g-9a) - tied for the 12th-most among NHL skaters - including five multi-point efforts.
• Matt Duchene has 30 points (13g-17a) in his last 38 games, including two consecutive three-point efforts on Feb. 23 at San Jose (3a) and Feb. 26 at Arizona (1g-2a). He's recorded points in 10 of his last 21 games (8g-9a), tallying multiple points in five of those outings.
• Luke Evangelista has four points (2g-2a) in his first eight career NHL games. He scored his first two career NHL goals on March 6 at Vancouver.
• Kiefer Sherwood has points in four of his last seven games (2g-3a).
• Sissons tallied an assist on Tuesday vs. Detroit to give him 14 points (5g-9a) in his last 25 outings. Sitting at 27 points (11g-16a), he is three from matching his career high of 30, set in 2018-19 (15g-15a).
• Since making his season debut on Feb. 13 vs. Arizona, Philip Tomasino has recorded 10 points (3g-7a) in 15 games. He has four points (1g-3a) in his last three games.

The Other Guys

The Jets are in fourth place in the Central Division with 79 points and are currently four points ahead of the Predators in the Western Conference Wild Card race. Winnipeg is 2-2-1 in the last five games, coming off back-to-back losses to Carolina and Boston.
Kyle Connor leads Winnipeg with 73 points (27g-46a), while Mark Scheifele has a team-high 38 goals. Connor Hellebuyck ranks fifth among all NHL goaltenders with a .918 save percentage.

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, 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.