Predators at Canadiens
All-Star defenseman P.K. Subban returns to the Bell Centre for the second time since being traded to Music City as the Nashville Predators conclude a four-game road trip against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. Subban scored twice in Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss to Ottawa to increase his point total to 25 (11 goals, 14 assists) in his past 24 games.
Subban has excelled with Nashville as his 15 goals are tied for his career high while his assist (28) and point (43) totals are tops with the Predators. The 27-year-old was held in check in the teams' first meeting - Nashville's 3-2 shootout win at Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 22 - although he had an assist on Ryan Ellis' goal and logged 24:33 of ice time in his homecoming to the Bell Centre last season. Central Division-leading Nashville carries a 9-1-4 mark in its last 14 games into the Bell Centre to face Montreal, which has seen a rare spark from its 27th-ranked offense as it has scored 12 goals during its last three games. "I thought there were times there where we engaged ourselves, put our foot on the gas and gave ourselves a chance to win the game, but we just weren't able to," captain Max Pacioretty said.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Sportsnet 360, FSN Tennessee (Nashville), CITY, TVAS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (32-12-9): Filip Forsberg is eligible to return after serving a three-game suspension for his hit on New York Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey. Prior to the ban, the 23-year-old Swede recorded back-to-back multi-point performances after missing 11 games with a hand injury and also tallied twice in the first encounter with the Canadiens. Forsberg's 16 goals trail Viktor Arvidsson (18) for the team lead, with the latter tallying six times in a nine-game stretch before being held in check at Ottawa.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (22-26-6): Artturi Lehkonen scored his third goal over his last two games on Thursday after converting on a short-handed breakaway versus the Flyers. Special teams were not entirely friendly for Montreal, with coach Claude Julien lamenting his club's play after surrendering a pair of power-play goals. "We made mistakes, especially on special teams. We could have been better short-handed," Julien said. "There's still something missing and there are games where a mistake here and there becomes costly. We have to limit those mistakes and correct them."
OVERTIME
1. Montreal D Jeff Petry will skate in his 500th NHL game on Saturday.
2. Predators G Pekka Rinne owns a 7-2-2 mark with two shutouts, a 1.42 goals-against average and .949 save percentage in 11 career encounters versus the Canadiens.
3. Montreal RW Brendan Gallagher has three goals and four assists in his last seven contests.