The Nashville Predators are set to conclude a back-to-back set in the province of Alberta when they take on the Calgary Flames tonight from the Scotiabank Saddledome for an 8 p.m. CT puck drop. Tonight’s contest is the first of three meetings between the two clubs this season.
The Preds fell to the Edmonton Oilers in overtime last night by a 3-2 final, and tonight, they’ll look to put forth a more consistent effort from start to finish.
“There's just some momentum swings in the game that we're taking too long to get back to our game, and I think that's what we need to clean up,” Preds forward Michael McCarron said following Thursday’s loss in Edmonton. “When we're going, we're going. I mean, in the third period tonight, we were hounding pucks. We're all over it. I think we can throw more pucks at the net… Back-to-back on the road, it’s going to be a greasy game, and for us, it's going to have to be greasy, and we're going to have to get some dirty goals. And I think that's the way it's going to be [tonight].”
Nashville recalled Adam Wilsby on Wednesday from Milwaukee (AHL), but the blueliner did not play on Thursday after taking warmups. Forwards Mark Jankowski and Tommy Novak (upper-body, day-to-day) were also scratched against the Oilers.
Last Time Out:
McCarron and Cole Smith tallied for the Preds in the 3-2 OT loss, while goaltender Scott Wedgewood made 31 saves in net. Smith’s goal came with less than three minutes left in regulation to help the Preds earn a point in the standings.
The Good Guys:
Filip Forsberg continues to lead the Preds with eight goals and 13 points on the season, followed by Roman Josi (1g-11a) with 12 points and Ryan O’Reilly (3g-7a) with 10 points. Gustav Nyqust has five goals, Steven Stamkos has four tallies and Jonathan Marchessault has three. Goaltender Juuse Saros is is 4-7-2 in net with a .911 save percentage.
The Opposition:
The Flames have dropped three of their last four outings, including a 3-1 loss to the Canucks in Vancouver on Tuesday. Rasmus Andersson (4g-7a) leads the team with 11 points, followed by Jonathan Huberdeau (6g-4a) with 10 points, and then Mikael Backlund (4g-5a) and Andrei Kuzmenko (1g-8a) with nine points apiece. Goaltender Dan Vladar is 3-4-2 in net for the Flames; Dustin Wolf is 5-2-1.
All-Time Meetings:
The Predators are 42-27-(4)-13 all-time against the Flames, including a 19-14-(3)-5 record Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Predators are 9-4-2 in their last 15 games against the Flames; they are 6-2-1 in their last nine; and 4-1-0 in their last five on the road.
The Predators have only lost five times in regulation to the Flames since Dec. 15, 2015 (13-5-6) and have picked up at least one point in 28 of their last 37 games (20-9-8).
Notables Versus Calgary:
Steven Stamkos has recorded 17 points (11g-6a) in 19 career games against the Flames.
Roman Josi has six goals and 21 assists in 34 career games vs. Calgary.
Filip Forsberg leads all Nashville skaters with 13 goals in 26 career games against the Flames. Since 2020-21, Forsberg is tied for the fourth-most power play goals scored by any NHL skater against Calgary.
Juuse Saros is 9-3-1 with a .921 save percentage and 2.71 goals-against average in 14 career games vs. the Flames.
Milestone Watch:
Luke Schenn is one point from 200 in his NHL career.
Tommy Novak is one point from 100 in his NHL career.
Steven Stamkos is one game from 1,100 in his NHL career; Stamkos (217) is one power-play goal from passing Mike Gartner and Jaromir Jagr (217) for sole possession of the 11th-most in NHL history. He also needs one goal to tie Guy Lafleur (560) for sixth place on the NHL’s all-time list among No. 1 picks.
General Manager Barry Trotz is one game from 100 as a GM in his NHL career.
Roman Josi is two points from 700 in his NHL career. He will become the 30th blueliner to ever hit that mark in the NHL.
Juuso Parssinen is two games from 100 in his NHL career.
Filip Forsberg (78) is three power-play goals from passing Shea Weber (80) for the most in Predators history; Forsberg is five goals from 300 in his NHL career.
Ryan O’Reilly is four assists from 500 in his NHL career.
Jonathan Marchessault is four points from 500 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.
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.)
