Coming off their first regulation loss of the season, the Nashville Predators are looking to bounce back against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday at 6 p.m. CST at the Bell Centre.
The Predators kept pace with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, but saw the Maple Leafs pull away in the third period for a 7-4 win. The result is not indicative of the score,as Toronto scored two empty-net goals.
Here is what you need to know ahead of the Predators road matchup in Montreal.
Who: Nashville Predators (2-1-1) at Montreal Canadiens (3-1-0)
Where: Centre Bell, Montreal, QC, Canada
When: 6 p.m. CST
TV: FanDuel Sports Network South
Radio: 102.5 The Game
Betting line (via BetMGM): Nashville +1.5 Montreal -1.5. Over/under: 6 (-105/-115)
Starters: Nashville – Juuse Saros; Montreal – Jakub Dobes
The Predators mixed up three of their four forward lines during morning practice on Thursday.
Ryan O’Reilly is now centering Filip Forsberg and Steven Stamkos on the first line. Fedor Svechkov is centering Tyson Jost and Luke Evangelista on the second line. Michael McCarron is center Cole Smith and Ozzy Weisblatt on the fourth line.
Brady Martin and Joakim Kemmel are the extra forwards. Nick Blankenberg is the extra defenseman.
The third line combination of Jonathan Marchessault, Erik Haula and Michael Bunting remained the same.
It seems that the Predators’ focus remains on getting Stamkos going, as he has one point in four games and no goals. The second line has struggled to find its groove, but now having a veteran player like Jost in the mix may spark something.
Martin has not played on this road trip, which is part of developing him and spreading out his first nine games, according to Predators head coach Andrew Brunette. He could potentially be scratched again on Thursday.
Kemell didn’t play in the Predators’ last game against the Maple Leafs and logged just 9:46 minutes in Nashville’s 4-1 win over Ottawa on Monday.
Saros has been one of the things that has been keeping the Predators afloat as they try to figure out their offense and even their defense.
The Predators starter has made 89 saves on 94 shots in three games, posting a 2-0-1 record. The loss to Toronto, where Justus Annunen played the entire game, proved that Saros is making up for the Predators’ defensive lapses early on.
A lot of what Annunen gave up in the loss to the Maple Leafs could be pinpointed back to defensive mistakes and their inability to get back in time.
Saros will start on Thursday and may continue to prove how much of a force he has been this season.
After losing their first game of the season, the Canadiens have rattled off three straight wins, most recently upending the Seattle Kraken, 5-4, in overtime on Tuesday at home.
Nick Suzuki has jumped out as one of the top playmakers in the league early on, with six assists in four games. Cole Caufield also has three goals and two assists for five points in four games.
Montreal is also the sixth highest scoring team in the NHL, averaging 3.75 goals a game.
Similar to the Predators, the Canadiens power play is also struggling with 17.6% efficiency.
Nashville: Nicolas Hague (upper body)
Montreal: None
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