GAME DAY: Flames vs. Preds, December 10

The Nashville Predators return from a three-game road trip to host the Calgary Flames tonight at Bridgestone Arena for a 7 p.m. CT puck drop. This evening’s contest marks the second of three meetings between the two this season; the Preds fell to the Flames in Calgary last month.

The Preds dropped games in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa during their swing through Eastern Canada last week. On Monday, Nashville was back at practice, and although they’re certainly not pleased with the way things continue to go, the group continues to work to get back in the win column, and they’re intent on doing so tonight.

“Obviously we are where we are, and there’s a lot of room for improvement,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said following Monday’s practice. “You’ve got to play a lot better, and I think we all know that. But at the same time, it's like I said, we are where we are, so we’ve got to find a way out of it. And we're going to keep doing that. We're going to keep trying. We're going to keep talking about it, keep trying to get better. Everybody wishes things could be different, but they're not. So, we’ve got to find a way together, as a team, an organization, to get out of this, and I'm sure we’re going to do that.”

“It’s easy to say, ‘Don't be frustrated,’” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “It's hard not to be frustrated. But in the same token, we’ve got to find the positives in our game. And I think right now, at times, I think of the Toronto game, where we're waiting for something bad to happen instead of being proactive and making sure good things happen. And that happens when you lose, and it is human nature, but we’ve just got to find a way to bury that and move forward… So, let's just try to enjoy the game. Let’s play loose. Let’s breathe a little bit. I think we put so [many] expectations on us as a team and as a group that maybe we weren't quite there yet. We’re striving to be better, and that's all we can do.”

Following practice, the Preds announced defenseman Alexandre Carrier is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Carrier took a hit in the third period of Saturday’s game in Ottawa and did not return. The blueliner joins centerman Ryan O’Reilly (week-to-week, lower body) and Jeremy Lauzon (IR, lower body) as Nashville’s injured participants.

The Good Guys:

Preds Captain Roman Josi (7g-16a) continues to lead the team in scoring, followed by Filip Forsberg (9g-8a) with 17 points, and then Steven Stamkos (7g-6a) and Jonathan Marchessault (5g-8a) with 13 points each. Rookie forward Fedor Svechkov scored his second-career goal on Saturday night in Nashville’s 3-1 loss in Ottawa. Goaltender Juuse Saros is now 6-12-5 in net with a .910 save percentage. Justus Annunen, who made his Predators debut on Thursday and made 27 saves, is 6-5-0 on the season.

The Opposition:

The Flames have dropped six of their last seven outings, including a 6-2 loss to the Stars in Dallas on Sunday. Jonathan Huberdeau (9g-8a) and Nazem Kadri (8g-9a) are tied for the team lead with 17 points apiece, followed by MacKenzie Weegar (4g-12a) with 16 points and Rasmus Andersson (6g-9a) with 15 points. Goaltender Dan Vladar is 5-5-4 in net; Dustin Wolf is 8-5-1.

All-Time Meetings:

The Predators are 42-28-(4)-13 all-time against the Flames, including a 23-13-(1)-8 record at Bridgestone Arena.

The Predators are 9-5-2 in their last 16 games against the Flames; they are 6-3-1 in their last nine; and 3-1-1 in their last five at home.

The Predators have only lost six times in regulation to the Flames since Dec. 15, 2015 (13-6-6) and have picked up at least one point in 28 of their last 38 games (20-10-8).

Notables Versus Calgary:

Steven Stamkos has recorded 17 points (11g-6a) in 20 career games against the Flames. Stamkos has a point in eight of the last 11 meetings (7g-3a-10pts).

Jonathan Marchessault has tallied 15 points (4g-11a) in 26 career games against the Flames.

Roman Josi has six goals and 21 assists in 35 career games vs. Calgary.

Filip Forsberg leads all Nashville skaters with 13 goals in 27 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 9-4-1 with a .924 save percentage and 2.59 goals-against average in 15 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.

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 contest begins at 6:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on FanDuel Sports Network South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley and Hal Gill. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic, analyst Chris Mason and rinkside reporter Kara Hammer will have the call on the television side.

Voice of the Predators Pete Weber and Jay More will call the game on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network, with pregame, postgame and intermission coverage by Chase McCabe beginning one hour before puck drop. 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.)