Senators at Predators
The Nashville Predators attempt to break even on their four-game homestand when they host the Ottawa Senators in the finale on Monday. Nashville, which is in a dogfight with Winnipeg for first place in the Central Division, fell to 1-2-0 on the string Saturday as it dropped a 3-1 decision to Detroit.
Craig Smith scored the lone goal in the setback for the Predators, who easily could be riding a seven-game slide as they are 3-2-2 in that span but had five of those contests decided after regulation - including all three victories. Ottawa is coming off its second straight victory, a 6-3 rout of the New York Rangers on Saturday that extended its home winning streak to five games. Derick Brassard had a strong outing against his former team, scoring a goal in his fourth consecutive contest while also setting up a pair. The 30-year-old center, who spent 3 1/2 seasons with the Rangers before being acquired in July 2016, will appear in his 700th NHL game on Monday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TSN5, RDS (Ottawa), FS Tennessee (Nashville)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (21-27-9): Mark Stone increased his team-leading total to 49 points Saturday with his sixth multi-point performance in his last 10 games. The 25-year-old right wing has collected four goals and 11 assists in that span and is one tally away from his fourth consecutive 20-goal campaign. Marian Gaborik, who was acquired from Los Angeles along with Nick Shore on Tuesday, was kept off the scoresheet by the Rangers after recording a goal and an assist against Buffalo in his debut with Ottawa.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (34-14-9): Smith is riding a three-game point streak and is one goal behind team co-leaders Viktor Arvidsson and Kevin Fiala, who have scored 18 apiece. Arvidsson has gone five games without a tally while Fiala has netted one over his last six contests. Kyle Turris, who was acquired from Ottawa on Nov. 5 in a three-team deal that also involved Colorado, is scoreless in five games since registering his 200th career assist on Feb. 5 against the New York Islanders.
OVERTIME
1. Predators D Roman Josi is two assists shy of 200 for his career.
2. Ottawa LW Magnus Paajarvi scored against New York, giving him two goals in 10 games since being claimed off waivers from St. Louis and leaving him one point away from 100 in the NHL.
3. Nashville has suffered back-to-back regulation losses for the first time since Dec. 19 and 21.