The Nashville Predators have a chance to sweep their two-game road trip when they face the Colorado Avalanche tonight at Ball Arena at 8 p.m. CT. This evening’s contest is the third of four meetings between the division rivals this season; Nashville has collected points in both of those outings, including a 3-2 overtime loss in Denver last month.
Nashville’s eight-game skid came to an end on Thursday night in Dallas with a 4-1 victory over the Stars. Despite Captain Roman Josi (lower-body, day-to-day), as well as defensemen Alexandre Carrier (IR, upper-body) and Jeremy Lauzon (IR, lower-body) all out of the lineup, the Preds were able to limit the Stars to just one goal, thanks in part to the strong play of netminder Justus Annunen.
Now, they’ll look to build upon that effort tonight in Colorado, something that hasn’t come easy for Nashville this season, but they’re ready for the challenge.
“As a group, we want to be harder to play against, and kind of consistent with that, and as a group we were,” Preds Alternate Captain Ryan O’Reilly said following Thursday’s win. “We were hard to play against, big saves, big blocks, pucks over at the right time. The challenges can be followed up. So it’s not going to get any easier against Colorado, and that'll be the challenge for us, but something to build on.”
O’Reilly returned to the Nashville lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury. Preds forward Gustav Nyquist was also back for Nashville after missing Tuesday’s game due to illness. Forwards Juuso Parssinen and Fedor Svechkov were also scratched for Nashville. The Predators did not practice on Friday.
Last Time Out:
O’Reilly tallied twice and had three points in Thursday’s 4-1 win in Dallas. Forwards Tommy Novak and Zach L’Heureux also scored against the Stars, while defenseman Adam Wilsby recorded his first NHL point - an assist - on O’Reilly’s first goal.
Annunen recorded 35 saves in his first win with Nashville. Per NHL Public Relations, the only goaltenders in franchise history with as many in their first career win with the club are Marek Mazanec (39 on Nov. 16, 2013), Carter Hutton (38 on Oct. 20, 2013) and Pekka Rinne (35 on Dec. 15, 2005).
The Good Guys:
Josi, who remains day-to-day, leads the Preds with 23 points (7g-16a), followed by Filip Forsberg (9g-10a) with 19 points, and then O’Reilly and Jonathan Marchessault with identical seven-goal and 10-assist statlines. Steven Stamkos also has seven goals on the season; Nyquist has six.
Annunen, who was acquired from Colorado in exchange for Scott Wedgewood two weeks ago, is now 7-5-0 overall on the season; Juuse Saros is 6-13-5 with a .908 save percentage.
The Opposition:
Colorado saw a three-game win streak come to an end on Thursday night as they fell to Utah by a 4-1 final. Nathan MacKinnon leads the Avalanche - and the entire NHL - with 47 points (11g-36a), flowed by Mikko Rantanen (18g-25a) with 43 points and Cale Makar with nine goals and 36 points from the backend. Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, who was acquired earlier in the week from New Jersey, is 6-9-3 on the season; Wedgewood has three wins with the Avs since arriving two weeks ago from Nashville.
All-Time Meetings:
Nashville is 50-37-(5)-5 all-time against Colorado, including a 23-21-(2)-3 record in Denver.
The Predators are 17-9-2 in their last 28 games against the Avalanche; they are 4-4-2 in their last 10; and 1-3-1 in their last five games at Ball Arena.
Nashville has won 18 of its last 29 regular-season games against Colorado, including an 11-game win streak from April 5, 2016-Nov. 7, 2018. During the win streak, Nashville posted 4.2 goals per game and held Colorado to two-or-fewer goals seven times.
Notables Versus Colorado:
Jonathan Marchessault has posted 18 points (9g-9a) in 28 career regular-season contests against the Avalanche; in seven postseason games against Colorado, he has tallied nine points (7g-2a); his seven goals are the second-most he has posted against any franchise in the playoffs (Sharks – 8 in 13 GP).
Steven Stamkos has accumulated 20 points (10g-10a) in 25 games against Colorado. In the 2022 Stanley Cup Final, Stamkos recorded two goals and two assists in six games against the Avs.
Roman Josi recorded a 12-game point streak vs. Colorado (5g-11a) from March 28, 2016-Jan. 21, 2019. He has recorded a point in 32 of his 46 career games against the Avalanche, totaling 15 goals and 44 points. Josi (1g-1a) recorded his 167th career multi-point game and passed Kris Letang (166 GP) for 25th-most in NHL history among defensemen in the first contest between the two teams this season.
Colton Sissons has 19 points (10g-9a) in 28 career regular-season games vs. Colorado, including his first goal of the season in the first matchup. He has scored in both contests against the Avalanche this season.
Filip Forsberg notched his fourth career hat trick on Feb. 23, 2017, vs. the Avalanche. He’s averaged more than a point per game in his career against Colorado, recording 38 points (19g-19a) in 37 games, including five game-winning goals, which is tied for the most he has against any single team (Stars).
Since 2018-19, Ryan O’Reilly has recorded a league-high 24 points (9g-15a) against the Avalanche. O’Reilly was drafted by Colorado in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft. He spent six seasons with the Avalanche from 2009-15, recording 246 points (90g-156a) in 427 games.
Goaltender Justus Annunen was acquired from Colorado on Nov. 30 in exchange for Scott Wedgewood. Annunen was drafted by the Avalanche in the third round (64th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft. He posted a 16-9-2 record and 2.81 goals-against average in 29 career games (24 starts) with Colorado.
Milestone Watch:
Ryan O’Reilly played in his 1,100 career NHL game on Dec. 12 at Dallas and is one assist from 500 in his NHL career.
Luke Schenn is one point from 200 in his NHL career.
Filip Forsberg is three power-play goals (78) from passing Shea Weber (80) for the most in Predators history and is four goals from 300 in his NHL career.
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for tonight’s game begins at 7:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on FanDuel Sports Network South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and analyst Chris Mason will have the call on the television side. The game will also be simulcast on NewsChannel 5 (CBS) in the Nashville viewing market.
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. (El partido también se transmite en español por El Jefe en 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM y 810 AM.)
