Flames at Predators
The Nashville Predators haven't been shy about putting in for overtime of late, although they required a full sprint to overcome a three-goal deficit in the third period of their last outing before converting a penalty shot. The Predators look to keep churning along on Thursday when they play the second contest of a four-game homestand against the Calgary Flames.
"We obviously gave ourselves a big hole against a good team and now we see what happens when we don't play, and we also see what happens when we do play," said Filip Forsberg, who solved former Predator Carter Hutton in overtime of Tuesday's 4-3 win over St. Louis. The 23-year-old Swede has five points in his last four games overall for the Central Division-leading Predators, who are 3-0-2 in their last five contests that have ventured past regulation and 11-1-3 in their past 15 overall. While Nashville sports an impressive 19-5-3 mark at home, Calgary owns a 16-7-5 record on the road heading into the finale of its six-game road trip. The Flames fell to 3-2-0 during that trek following Tuesday's 5-2 loss in Boston, although Johnny Gaudreau scored a goal to extend his point streak to seven games (four goals, six assists).
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Sportsnet West (Calgary), FSN Tennessee (Nashville)
ABOUT THE FLAMES (29-20-8): The Flames benefited from a third-period uprising in their first meeting with the Predators, with Matthew Tkachuk and Micheal Ferland scoring in the final session of regulation before Tkachuk tallied in the shootout of a 3-2 win on Oct. 24. The 20-year-old Tkachuk has been on a roll with three goals in his previous two games before being held off the scoresheet versus the Bruins. Tkachuk's 20 goals match Ferland for second best on the team, although the latter has just one in his last 14 contests.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (34-12-9): Pekka Rinne is expected to play in his 550th career game on Thursday and resides two victories shy of 300 for his career. The 35-year-old Finn held the fort and picked up his third win this season against the Blues after finishing with 28 saves, although he recorded four more to preserve a shutout in Nashville's 2-0 win over Calgary on Dec. 16. Kevin Fiala and Ryan Johansen each scored in that contest, and the former has tallied five times in his last six games while the latter has six points (one goal, five assists) in his last seven.
OVERTIME
1. Calgary G David Rittich owns a 5-1-2 mark with a 2.21 goals-against average and .932 save percentage on the road this season.
2. Nashville C Calle Jarnkrok has four goals in seven games this month after failing to score in his previous 12 contests.
3. The Flames are 0-for-9 on the power play against the Predators this season.