The Nashville Predatos will visit the Arizona Coyotes tonight (at 8 p.m. CT) in the first of two trips to the desert during the regular season.
Nashville (23-11-5) was held scoreless in their first game of 2018 in a 3-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. The contest marked the return of Ryan Ellis, who had missed the season's first 38 games due to offseason knee surgery. Ellis logged 18:28 of time on ice in the game.
While the Preds readded Ellis, they found out following the contest that they will be without their leading scorer, Filip Forsberg, for
the next four to six weeks due to an upper-body injury.
Arizona (9-27-5) sits last in the Western Conference and has lost two in a row. The Coyotes fell, 5-2, to the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 31 in their most recent game.
The Predators held an optional morning skate at Gila River Arena on Thursday; below is a projected lineup based on Wednesday's practice:
Projected Lineup: Predators at Coyotes
Predators Visit Arizona for First of Two Games, Seeking First Win of 2018
![Josi_arizona_jan4_lineup3](https://media.d3.nhle.com/image/private/t_ratio16_9-size20/f_auto/prd/tpszdwdswsx0gfkengxy.jpg)
© Jeff Bottari