After ending a four-game winning run with a defeat in the first outing of their current back-to-back set, the Nashville Predators (5th in Central Division) will try to split the double-header while visiting the Montreal Canadiens (8th in Atlantic), who have won just one of their last nine fixtures.
The first outing of the current back-to-back set brought a narrow defeat to the Nashville Predators (19-15-6), who snapped a season-long four-game winning streak after being edged out with a count of 2-1 by the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena last night. Filip Forsberg (37 points this year) tied the game at 1-1 at the start of the second period with his team-leading 17th strike of the season before the hosts banked the winner during power play with just 1:15 left on the clock. It was Nashville’s first regulation loss in its past seven matchups (5-1-1), with the team entering the last fixture of its current five-date trip with a 3-1-0 record to start it.
Goalie Juuse Saros stopped 33 pucks yesterday and has now gone 15-11-5 for the rolling year with a 2.65 GAA and a .922 save percentage. He has registered a 4-1-0 past showing versus Montreal with a 3.06 GAA and a .893 save percentage, while Kevin Lankinen (4-4-1 on the season with a 2.81 GAA and a .918 save percentage), who remains a game-time decision, has never faced the Canadiens before. The Predators, meanwhile, are 6th in least goals scored per game this year (2.75), 12th in least goals given up on average (2.90), 5th from the bottom in power play (17.0%) and 13th in penalty kill (80.1%).