GAME DAY: Preds at Bruins, March 4

The Nashville Predators are set to close out their three-game road trip tonight in Boston when they face the Bruins at TD Garden for a 6 p.m. CT puck drop. This evening’s contest is the second and final meeting between the two clubs this season; the Preds shut out the Bruins back in October in Nashville.

The Preds are in search of their first win of the trip after falling to the Islanders and Rangers in a back-to-back pair of games over the weekend. Saturday’s contest on Long Island saw the Predators fall by a 7-4 final, and Sunday evening brought about a 4-0 loss at Madison Square Garden. Although they had plenty of chances in their previous outing, the Preds simply want to start by finding the back of the net tonight in Boston.

“I thought we had our opportunities for sure,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said Sunday. “But I think if you don't score, it's hard to win in this League. I thought we had numerous really good looks, we're just having a hard time scoring right now.”

The Predators dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Rangers with forward Fedor Svechkov serving as Nashville’s lone healthy scratch. Forward Mark Jankowski remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

The Good Guys:

Filip Forsberg continues to lead the Preds with 22 goals and 54 points, followed by Jonathan Marchessault with 18 goals and 45 points. Ryan O’Reilly has 14 goals and 36 points; Steven Stamkos has tallied 17 times and has 33 points. Juuse Saros is 13-25-6 in net; Justus Annunen, who took the loss Sunday, is 13-9-0 overall.

The Opposition:

The Bruins started the month of March with a win over the Penguins before falling to Minnesota, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon. David Pastrnak leads Boston with 32 goals and 75 points, followed by Brad Marchand with 21 goals and 47 points. Pavel Zacha has 25 assists and 37 points; Morgan Geekie has tallied 19 times on the season. Jeremy Swayman is 18-20-6 in net for the Bruins; Joonas Korpisalo is 10-6-2 overall.

All-Time Meetings:

The Predators are 16-18-(1)-3 all-time against the Bruins, including a 5-9-(1)-3 record in Boston. Nashville is 2-2-1 in their last five at TD Garden. Aside from waiver claims, Boston is the only team that Nashville has never had a transaction with since the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft, in which the Predators selected center Mike Sullivan.

Notables Versus Boston:

Steven Stamkos has tallied 41 points (27g-14a) in 54 games against the Bruins. His 27 goals are the second-most (Alexander Ovechkin – 29) of any active NHL skater against Boston.

On his run to winning the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy in 2019, Ryan O’Reilly faced Boston in the Stanley Cup Final and posted nine points (5g-4a) in the seven-game series.

Defenseman Brady Skjei has accumulated 14 points (2g-12a) in 22 career games against the Bruins; the 14 points are tied for the third-most he has put up against any one team during his time in the NHL.

Predators Assistant General Manager and Director of Scouting Jeff Kealty played college hockey at Boston University. Kealty helped lead the Terriers to four consecutive Frozen Four appearances and the 1995 NCAA title. Nashville’s Defense Development Coach Rob Scuderi won an NCAA title at Boston College in 2001; Forward Development Coach Nathan Gerbe was named NCAA Tournament MVP for Boston College’s title-winning team in 2008. Predators Senior Advisor David Poile graduated from Northeastern University; Assistant General Manager/Director of Hockey Operations Brian Poile is a Boston College alumnus. Assistant Coach Darby Hendrickson’s son, Beckett, was drafted in the fourth round (124th overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft by the Bruins.

Milestone Watch:

Kieffer Bellows is one game from 100 in his NHL career.

Steven Stamkos is two assists from 600 in his NHL career. Stamkos (572) is two goals from passing Mike Bossy (573) for the 23rd-most in NHL history.

Jonathan Marchessault is two games from 700 in his NHL career.

Ryan O’Reilly is four goals from 300 in his NHL career.

Juuse Saros is five wins from 200 and five games from 400 in his NHL career.

Colton Sissons is five goals from 100 in his NHL career.

Watch & Listen:

Coverage for this evening’s game begins at 5:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on FanDuel Sports Network South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and analyst Chris Mason will have the call on the television side.

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.)