GAME DAY: Preds at Sharks, April 4

After prevailing over the Kings in a shootout on Thursday in what was then the largest sport of the season, the Nashville Predators have now moved that title to tonight’s sport towards the San Jose Sharks with a 9 pm CT puck drop from SAP Center. This night’s contest is the second of three conferences between the Preds and Sharks close to the tip of the season; Nashville beat San Jose final week by a 6-3 depend.

With Thursday’s end in Los Angeles, coupled with a San Jose win over Toronto on Thursday, the Preds, Kings and Sharks all personal 79 factors in the course of the Wild Card race within the Western Conference. A win tonight would see the Predators leap frog the Sharks, and with simply seven video games to go in Nashville’s schedule, each level is essential to maintain their playoff hopes alive.

“We’re facing a bunch [of big games] this trip – all teams that we’re battling against, competing against for this playoff spot,” Preds winger Luke Evangelista stated following Thursday’s win. “To get started with the win there, that’s huge for us. But we’ve got to keep building these. These are huge games for us, so the job is not done yet.”

(*4*) Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette stated Thursday evening. “We’re growing as a team. I think this team is an extremely tight group, I think because of everything they went through, and we’re just enjoying the moment. We’re enjoying playing meaningful games this time of year. We’re just going to keep pushing. Nobody expected us to be here, and we’ll just keep us here down the stretch.”

The Predators stored the identical assortment of gamers within the lineup on Thursday with Ryan Ufko and Ozzy Wiesblatt serving as wholesome scratches. Nashville held a restricted observe on Friday afternoon in San Jose.

The Good Guys:

Filip Forsberg, Zach L’Heureux, Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos all tallied in regulation towards the Kings – after which Juuse Saros stopped all eight skaters within the shootout earlier than Evangelista scored to offer the Preds a vital additional level.

Forsberg has 35 objectives and leads the Preds with 68 factors, adopted by Ryan O’Reilly with 43 assists and 67 factors. Stamkos has 37 objectives and 59 factors on the season, whereas Evangelista has 40 assists and 50 factors. Saros is now 27-20-7 in internet; Justus Annunen is 8-11-2.

The Opposition:

Since falling to the Predators final week, the Sharks have now gained 4 straight, together with a 4-1 victory over Toronto on Thursday. Macklin Celebrini has 40 objectives and 105 factors in simply his second NHL season to guide the Sharks. Will Smith has 22 objectives and 54 factors on the season, whereas Alexander Wennberg has 34 helpers and 51 factors. Former Preds goaltender Yaroslav Askarov is 21-17-3 in internet; Alex Nedeljkovic is 15-13-4.

All-Time Meetings:

The Preds are 50-29-(2)-8 all-time towards the Sharks, together with a 20-17-(1)-6 mark on the highway.

The Predators defeated the Sharks 6-3, on March 24 at Bridgestone Arena, behind three-point efforts from Filip Forsberg (1g-2a) and Jonathan Marchessault (3a). Nashville scored 5 objectives in a single interval for simply the tenth time in franchise historical past and 5 within the first interval for under the second time (Feb. 28, 2009 vs. Detroit).

Nashville owns a 17-game level streak (16-0-1) towards San Jose that dates again to March 16, 2019, during which the workforce has allowed greater than two objectives towards solely thrice. It is the longest energetic level streak by an NHL workforce towards a single franchise. The Predators’ win streak of 14 video games towards the Sharks is the longest energetic towards a single workforce within the NHL and tied for his or her longest run towards a single workforce in franchise historical past (14 GP from Oct. 15, 2005-Jan. 27, 2007 vs. St. Louis).

Nashville Notables:

Filip Forsberg scored his thirty fifth objective of the season in Thursday’s win, the third time in his profession he has hit that mark. Forsberg prolonged his highway objective streak to 4 video games, tied for the fourth-longest run in Predators historical past. The three longest highway objective streaks in franchise historical past are by Forsberg (6 GP in 2014-15 and 5 GP in 2019-20) and Gabriel Bourque (5 GP in 2012-13)

Watch & Listen:

Coverage for tonight’s contest begins at 8:30 pm CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame present on FanDuel Sports Network South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and Chris Mason can have the decision on the tv facet. Max Herz and Hal Gill will name the sport on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network.