Voltar
NASHVILLE —The Nashville Predators (4-3-4) and New York Islanders (5-4-2) meet on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena for the first time this season.
Nashville comes in on a high after a 6-2 win over Colorado on Sunday. The Predators scored four power-play goals on seven chances. Ryan O’Reilly had two goals and two assists, Steven Stamkos added two goals and an assist, Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi picked up three helpers. The bigger question is whether that production can carry over at even strength. The Predators have just 14 five-on-five goals, 31st in the NHL, and have leaned heavily on the power play. Four of their losses have come by a single goal, and they were shut out 6-0 at Boston on Oct. 22.
The Islanders arrive looking to stop a slide. They’ve lost back-to-back games, 3-2 to Los Angeles and 6-3 at Dallas on Sunday, and they’re still on the road. Coach Patrick Roy’s successor behind the bench, Peter DeBoer, is shaking up the lineup, activating defenseman Scott Mayfield and going with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Kyle MacLean is the healthy scratch, since DeBoer hasn’t liked what he’s gotten from the fourth line. Bo Horvat has been a bright spot, with a third multi-point game of the season against Dallas.
The best individual matchup to watch is Josi against Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer. The 19-year-old defenseman is averaging 26:13 a game, fourth in the NHL. Between the pipes, Juuse Saros was the first goalie off the ice this morning, suggesting he'll start, while the Islanders are expected to go with Semyon Varlamov, with Ilya Sorokin skipping the optional skate.
"It's going to be a totally different game than it was on Sunday," Andrew Brunette said. "They're built differently. They're one of the best defensive teams in the league. They've got size back there. So we're going to have to find different ways to try to create offensively. They're not going to get maybe some of the freer offense we got the other night. It's a Pete DeBoer team. I've been coaching against him long enough, I know what his team is going to bring. They're not going to give you anything free. So we have to earn it tonight. I think if we can build off of it and if we can stack another effort like we had on Sunday, we'll give ourselves a chance."
This section will be updated during pregame warmups.
This section will be updated during pregame warmups.
Nashville
New York Islanders
Source: DraftKings