The Nashville Predators (6-10-3) are set to conclude their five-game road trip tonight in Seattle when they take on the Kraken (9-9-1) from Climate Pledge Arena at 9 p.m. CT. This evening’s contest is the second of three meetings between the two clubs this season; the Preds fell to the Kraken in Nashville back in October.
The Predators earned their first win of the trip on Sunday night in Vancouver with a 4-3 victory over the Canucks, but Nashville does have points in three of their four outings on the excursion. Tonight, they’ll look to build off their most recent effort, and they’d love nothing more than to collect two more points before heading home to Tennessee.
“It’s another big game for us,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said following Tuesday’s practice in Seattle. “I think we did some good things in Vancouver. It’s been a long road trip, and I think we can still make this positive road trip, getting two points in that next game. It’s always a tough building to play in, so we’ve got to be ready for it.”
Preds forward Tommy Novak reentered the lineup on Sunday in favor of Philip Tomasino. Forward Mark Jankowski and defenseman Adam Wilsby were also scratched for Nashville against the Canucks. The Predators had a full contingent of players for Tuesday’s practice in Seattle.
Last Time Out:
Steven Stamkos tallied twice on the power play, and Zach L’Heureux scored his first NHL goal to lead the Preds past the Canucks. Roman Josi and Gustav Nyquist also scored for Nashville, and Juuse Saros made 24 saves in the win.
Josi’s goal was his 700th NHL point as he became the seventh European-born defenseman to reach the milestone. The others: Nicklas Lidstrom (1,142 in 1,564 GP), Erik Karlsson (828 in 1,022 GP), Sergei Gonchar (811 in 1,301 GP), Borje Salming (787 in 1,148 GP), Sergei Zubov (771 in 1,068 GP) and Victor Hedman (744 in 1,068 GP).
Stamkos’s power-play goals were the 218th and 219th of his career to surpass Mike Gartner and Jaromir Jagr (217) for the 11th-most in NHL history.
The Good Guys:
Filip Forsberg continues to lead the Preds with eight goals and 15 points through 19 games, followed by Josi (2g-12a) with 14 points and Ryan O’Reilly (3g-8a) with 11 points. Stamkos (6g-4a) and Jonathan Marchessault (3g-7a) both have 10 points on the season; Nyquist has six goals and nine points. Saros is 5-8-2 on the season with a .914 save percentage.
The Opposition:
Seattle saw a four-game win streak come to an end on Sunday night when they were shut out by the New York Rangers by a 2-0 final. Jared McCann leads the Kraken with nine goals and 21 points in 19 games; Jordan Eberle (6g-5a), Brandon Montour (4g-7a) and Ryker Evans (3g-8a) all have 11 points apiece. Joey Daccord is 8-3-1 in net for Seattle; Philipp Grubauer is 1-6-0.
All-Time Meetings:
The Predators are 4-6-0 all-time against the Kraken, including a 2-3-0 record at Climate Pledge Arena.
Nashville won the 2023-24 regular season series, 2-1-0. The Predators outscored the Kraken, 9-5, in the three games.
Bridgestone Arena hosted the Kraken in the franchise’s first-ever NHL game on Oct. 14, 2021, a 4-3 loss for the Predators.
Notables Versus Seattle:
Jonathan Marchessault leads all NHL skaters in goals against the Kraken with nine in 13 games. He has also added four assists in those contests.
Filip Forsberg leads the franchise in points against Seattle, posting nine points (3g-6a) in eight games.
Roman Josi has points in five of the eight games he has played against the Kraken in his career (4g-3a-7pts).
Jeremy Lauzon was acquired from Seattle for a second-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft (Jani Nyman) on March 20, 2022. He had six points (1g-5a) in 53 games with the Kraken in 2021-22.
Seattle forward Eeli Tolvanen played 135 games for Nashville from 2018-22, tallying 51 points (25g-26a). He was selected by Nashville in the first round (30th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft. Tolvanen scored Nashville’s first-ever goal against Seattle on Oct. 14, 2021.
Milestone Watch:
Luke Schenn is one point from 200 in his NHL career.
Tommy Novak is one point from 100 in his NHL career.
Filip Forsberg is three games (717) 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.
Ryan O’Reilly is three assists from 500 in his NHL career.
Jonathan Marchessault is three points from 500 in his NHL career.
The Predators franchise is four games from 2,000 and eight wins from 1,000.
Watch & Listen:
Tonight’s game will be broadcast exclusively on TNT with Brendan Burke, Jennifer Botterill and Darren Pang on the call.
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.)
