After returning home to defeat Winnipeg on Saturday night, the Nashville Predators are back on the road for a quick trip to New Jersey to face the Devils this evening at Prudential Center for a 6 p.m. CT puck drop. Tonight is the first of two meetings between the clubs this season; the Preds will host the Devils in March.
Nashville earned a 4-1 victory over the Jets - the NHL’s top team - Saturday night in one of their most satisfying efforts of the season. Now, as the Preds said following the victory, tonight’s contest will be all about maintaining that effort as they try to string together wins to get back into the thick of the standings.
“I think just realizing the situation that we're in, right?” Preds Captain Roman Josi said following Saturday’s win. “Every game is huge. It's early in the season, but every game matters a lot for us. I think obviously we dug ourselves a little bit of a hole here. We [will] definitely enjoy this win tonight, but once tomorrow hits, we're going to New Jersey, playing another great team, and we need to keep building and playing better.”
Prior to Saturday’s game, the Preds recalled forward Fedor Svechkov from Milwaukee (AHL), and the center made his NHL debut while registering one hit in 7:34 of ice time.
Predators forward Michael McCarron did not play on Saturday and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. McCarron did not practice on Sunday prior to the team departing for New Jersey. Forwards Juuso Parssinen and Philip Tomasino were also scratched for Nashville on Saturday. Defenseman Adam Wilsby was reassigned to Milwaukee on Saturday morning.
Last Time Out:
Josi tallied twice, Steven Stamkos scored on the power play and Jonathan Marchessault added a goal and an assist in the win as Juuse Saros made 23 saves in net. Head Coach Andrew Brunette called Marchessault’s game his best as a member of the Preds.
The Good Guys:
Filip Forsberg continues to lead the Preds with eight goals and 16 points on the season, followed by Josi (4g-12a) who also has 16 points. Marchessault (4g-8a) and Ryan O’Reilly (3g-9a) have 12 points apiece, while Stamkos has seven goals and 11 points. Saros is 6-9-2 in net with a .918 save percentage; Scott Wedgewood is 1-2-1.
The Opposition:
The Devils have won four of their last five outings, including a 3-2 victory over Washington on Saturday night. Jesper Bratt leads New Jersey with 10 goals and 28 points, followed by Jack Hughes (8g-17a) with 25 points. Nico Hischier and Stefan Noesen also have 10 goals each. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom is 9-5-1 in net; Jake Allen is 5-2-1 with a .921 save percentage.
All-Time Meetings:
The Predators are 21-10-(0)-6 all-time against the Devils, including a 13-4-(0)-1 record in New Jersey.
Nashville is 4-1-0 in their last five games against the Devils; they are 9-1-0 in their last 10; and 8-0-0 in their last eight on the road. Nashville has not lost on the road to New Jersey since March 3, 2015.
The Predators recorded a 14-game point streak (11-0-3) against the Devils from Oct. 14, 2015-Jan. 26, 2023.
On Jan. 30, 1999, Sebastien Bordeleau scored the game-winning goal (2:34) for Nashville over New Jersey in the franchise’s first overtime victory.
Notables Versus New Jersey:
Brady Skjei has recorded 15 points (5g-10a) in 27 career games against the Devils. The 27 points are the second-most he has accumulated in his career against a single franchise.
Steven Stamkos has tallied 45 points (24g-21a) in 44 career games against New Jersey, including six games with three points.
Jonathan Marchessault has collected 17 points (9g-8a) in 16 career games against the Devils.
New Jersey is one of five teams that Marchessault has averaged over a point a game against in his career. In his last six games against the Devils, he has posted five goals and five assists, including two games where he recorded three points.
Juuse Saros is 8-1-1 with a 2.24 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in 10 career games against the Devils.
Scott Wedgewood is 3-0-0 with a 1.39 goals-against average and .952 save percentage in three career starts against New Jersey.
Roman Josi has 19 points (6g-13a) in his last 15 games against the Devils. He’s operating at more than a point-per-game pace in his career vs. New Jersey, recording 21 points (6g-15a) in 20 games.
Head Coach Andrew Brunette served as associate coach for the Devils during the 2022-23 season.
Marc Del Gaizo is a native of Basking Ridge, N.J.
Milestone Watch:
Luke Schenn is one point from 200 in his NHL career.
Tommy Novak is one point from 100 in his NHL career.
Jonathan Marchessault is one point from 500 in his NHL career.
Filip Forsberg is one game (719) from passing Mattias Ekholm (719) for the fifth-most games played in franchise history; is three power-play goals (78) from passing Shea Weber (80) for the most in Predators history; and is five goals from 300 in his NHL career.
The Predators franchise is two games from 2,000 and seven wins from 1,000.
Ryan O’Reilly is two assists from 500 in his NHL career.
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for tonight’s game begins at 5:30 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.
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.)
