Nashville Faces Philadelphia Once More to Conclude Season Series
The Nashville Predators return to Bridgestone Arena tonight for a date with the Philadelphia Flyers at 7 p.m. CT. This evening’s contest is the second and final meeting between the two clubs this season; the Preds fell to the Flyers in Philadelphia one week ago.
The week began with a back-to-back set for the Predators that saw them earn a point in both outings. Nashville forced overtime against Vancouver on Monday before the Canucks scored in OT for a 5-4 win. Then, Steven Stamkos scored with 0.3 seconds remaining in regulation on Tuesday night in Minnesota to tie the game before the Wild ultimately prevailed.
Now, the Preds will look to take the good from those outings as they prepare for the season series finale against the Flyers.
“We had great determination tonight,” Preds forward Michael McCarron said following Tuesday’s loss. “All four lines were going. Everybody was playing hard. We played the right way. We played a great road game. Second period, we doubled them up, meaning we had good changes. We went through three, four lines with, with only one of their lines not able to change, which is huge and just key for the road. We had a really solid game. I loved our game tonight. I loved our determination.”
Prior to Tuesday’s game, the Predators recalled forward Zach L’Heureux from Milwaukee (AHL). L’Heureux did not play against the Wild and was Nashville’s lone healthy scratch.
The Predators did not practice on Wednesday but are scheduled to hold a morning skate ahead of tonight’s game.
In addition to Stamkos tying the game late, rookie winger Matthew Wood also scored on Tuesday in Minnesota for his third career goal, all of which have come in the last four games. Goaltender Justus Annunen took the OT loss in net on Tuesday.
Filip Forsberg leads the Preds with six goals and 11 points, followed by Ryan O’Reilly (5g-4a) and Michael Bunting (4g-5a) with nine points each. Erik Haula (3g-5a) and Luke Evangelista (1g-7a) have eight points apiece. Goaltender Juuse Saros is 5-4-3 in net this season, and Preds Captain Roman Josi remains on Injured Reserve with an upper-body injury.
The Flyers snapped a two-game skid with a 5-4 shootout victory in Montreal on Tuesday. Trevor Zegras (4g-11a) leads Philadelphia with 15 points, followed by Travis Konecny (4g-6a) with 10 points. Bobby Brink has five goals and nine points on the season. Dan Vladar, who got the win against Nashville last week, is 5-3-0 in net.
The Preds are 16-14-(3)-4 all-time against the Flyers, including an 8-5-(2)-2 mark at home. Nashville is 5-4-1 in their last 10 versus the Flyers and 3-1-1 in their last five at Bridgestone Arena.
Ryan O’Reilly has recorded nearly a point per game in 27 career meetings with the Flyers, tallying 10 goals and 25 points.
Steven Stamkos has posted 56 points (28g-28a) in 45 career games against the Flyers. The 28 goals are tied for the third-most he has tallied against a single franchise in his career.
Filip Forsberg has recorded 15 points (8g-7a) in 17 contests against the Flyers in his career. He has points in three of his last four games (2g-4a) vs. Philadelphia.
Jonathan Marchessault has 13 points (6g-7a) in 17 career games against the Flyers. He potted two goals and added an assist on Nov. 18, 2023 at Philadelphia.
Michael Bunting is one goal from 100 in his NHL career.
Ryan O’Reilly is three power play goals from 100 in his career.
Coverage for tonight’s contest begins at 6:30 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.)
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