The final 10 games of the regular season have arrived, and the Nashville Predators will host the Vegas Golden Knights for a special 5:30 p.m. CT puck drop this evening at Bridgestone Arena. Saturday’s matchup is the second of three meetings between the two clubs this season; the Preds will play their final road game of the season next month in Vegas.
The Predators almost forced overtime with a buzzer-beater on Thursday night against St. Louis, but former Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault’s shot went into the net just moments after the horn sounded. Instead, Nashville fell to the Blues by a 3-2 final and saw themselves officially eliminated from playoff contention. Now, their focus remains on a strong finish in the final 10 outings, and they’ll have another tough test tonight against Vegas.
“I think there's tons to learn and tons of things we’ve got to work on,” Preds winger Filip Forsberg said following Thursday’s loss. “It’s a great opportunity every time we step on the ice to do that. It’s going to have to be that mindset…trying to try to get better, get tighter and do things better.”
Andreas Englund returned to the Nashville lineup on Thursday night with defenseman Jordan Oesterle and forward Jakub Vrana serving as healthy scratches. The Predators practiced on Friday with all healthy players participating.
The Good Guys:
Fedor Svechkov and Brady Skjei both tallied against the Blues on Thursday, while Juuse Saros took the loss in net.
Forsberg continues to lead the Preds with 28 goals and 66 points, followed by Marchessault (19g-30a) with 49 points and Steven Stamkos with 23 goals and 45 points. Saros is now 18-28-6 in net; Justus Annunen is 14-11-1 overall.
The Opposition:
The Golden Knights have now won five in a row, including a 5-3 victory last night in Chicago. Jack Eichel (26g-65a) leads Vegas with 91 points, followed by Mark Stone (19g-46a) with 65 points. Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev each have 31 goals on the season. Adin Hill, who got the win last night, is 28-11-5; Ilya Samsonov is 16-9-3.
All-Time Meetings:
The Predators are 9-7-3 all-time against the Golden Knights, including a 5-3-2 record in Nashville. The Preds are 5-4-1 in their last 10 versus Vegas and 3-2-0 in their last five meetings at Bridgestone Arena.
Nashville won the 2023-24 regular season series, 2-1-0. Roman Josi led the Predators with four points (1g-3a) in the series including the overtime game winner in the last matchup on March 26.
Notables Versus Vegas:
Jonathan Marchessault won the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy in 2023 with the Golden Knights. He was selected by Vegas in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft and played the previous seven seasons with the team. Marchessault ranks as the Golden Knights’ franchise leader in goals (192), points (417), overtime goals (9) and game-winning goals (32).
Filip Forsberg recorded his eighth career regular-season hat trick on Dec. 31, 2022 at Vegas. He recorded a five-game point streak vs. Vegas from Nov. 24, 2021-Feb. 7, 2023 (8g-1a), scoring at least two goals in three of those games.
Steven Stamkos has posted 18 points (8g-10a) in 13 career games against the Golden Knights. He has found the scoresheet in 12 of his 13 career contests vs. Vegas, including each of the last five meetings (3g-5a-8pts).
Ryan O’Reilly has tallied 26 points (13g-13a) in 25 career games against the Golden Knights. His 13 goals vs. Vegas are the second-most by any skater in the league and the 26 points are tied for the fifth-most.
Milestone Watch:
Jordan Oesterle is one game from 400 in his NHL career.
Filip Forsberg (356) is one assist from passing David Legwand (356) for the second-most in franchise history.
Ryan O’Reilly is two goals from 300 in his NHL career.
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for Saturday Night in Smashville begins at 5 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 Max Herz 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.)
