GAME DAY: Preds at Canucks on November 17th

The Nashville Predators continue their five-game road trip tonight when they take on the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena for a CT puck drop at 21.00. Tonight’s contest is the first of three meetings between the two clubs this season and the first time the Preds and Canucks have met since their first-round Stanley Cup playoffs last spring.

After dropping their first two games of the current road trip in overtime, the Preds were shut out Friday night in Calgary by a 2-0 final. Tonight they will be looking for their first win of the trip as they try to bounce back from Friday’s loss.

“The position (we’re in), we’ve got to get some points, we’ve got to get some wins and we’ve got to attack the game and come out there and play to win,” Preds captain Roman Josi said after Friday’s game. “And I feel like we’re not doing that right now.”

Nashville’s lineup remained the same Friday as it did for Thursday’s overtime loss at Edmonton, except for Juuse Saros starting in net over Scott Wedgewood. Forwards Mark Jankowski and Tommy Novak (upper body, day-to-day), as well as defenseman Adam Wilsby, were scratched.

The good guys:

Filip Forsberg continues to lead the Preds with eight goals and 13 points on the season, followed by Josi (1g-11a) with 12 points and Ryan O’Reilly (3g-7a) with 10 points. Gustav Nyquist has five goals, Steven Stamkos has four goals and Jonathan Marchessault has three. Saros is 4-8-2 in net with a .915 save percentage; Scott Wedgewood is 1-2-1.

The opposition:

The Canucks complete a back-to-back set tonight; they defeated the Blackhawks last night with a 4-1 final. Quinn Hughes (3g-14a) leads the club with 17 points, followed by JT Miller (6g-10a) with 16 points and Conor Garland (4g-8a) with 12 points. Former Preds goaltender Kevin Lankinen is 8-2-2 in net for Vancouver with a .907 save percentage.

Meetings of all times:

The Predators are 35-42-(2)-7 all-time against the Canucks, including a 16-24-(1)-1 record at Rogers Arena.

The Predators are 2-3-1 in their last six games against the Canucks; they are 4-5-1 in their last 10; and 2-2-1 in their last five away games.

The two teams met in the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs; Vancouver won 4-2.

Notables vs. Vancouver:

Jonathan Marchessault has recorded 24 points (11g-13a) in 22 career games against Vancouver. That is tied for the fourth-most points he has recorded against a single franchise in his career.

Steven Stamkos has collected 28 points (16g-12a) in 20 games against the Canucks. His 1.40 points per game against Vancouver is the most he has recorded against any team (min. 3 games played).

Juuse Saros is 5-2-1 in his career against Vancouver in the regular season.

North Vancouver’s Colton Sissons has 11 points (7g-4a) in 22 career games against the Canucks.

Roman Josi has points in seven of his last 11 games (1g-6a) against Vancouver. He also has 16 points (1g-15a) in his last 20 games against the Canucks and posted a six-game point streak (7a) against Vancouver from Jan. 10, 2017-Dec. 13, 2018.

Milestone Watch:

Steven Stamkos played in his 1,100th. Career NHL game Nov. 15 in Calgary. Stamkos (217) is one power-play goal away from passing Mike Gartner and Jaromir Jagr (217) for sole possession of the 11th most in NHL history.

Juuso Parssinen is one game shy of 100 in his NHL career.

Luke Schenn is one point shy of 200 in his NHL career.

Tommy Novak is one point shy of 100 in his NHL career.

Roman Josi is two points from 700 in his NHL career.

Filip Forsberg (78) is three power-play goals from passing Shea Weber (80) for most in Predators history; Forsberg is five goals from 300 in his NHL career.

Ryan O’Reilly is four assists from 500 in his NHL career.

Jonathan Marchessault is four points shy of 500 in his NHL career.

The Predators streak is five games shy of 2,000 and nine wins shy of 1,000.

Watch and listen:

Coverage of tonight’s match begins at 8:30 PM CT with 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 TV 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 by El Jefe on 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM and 810 AM.)