Predators at Panthers
The Nashville Predators rebounded from a poor performance with a brilliant one and can clinch the Central Division title by completing a sweep of the Sunshine State portion of their road trip when they visit the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. The Predators gave up four power-play goals en route to a loss at home to NHL-worst Buffalo on Saturday before going on the road to knock off Tampa Bay 4-1 just 24 hours later.
“I thought it was great,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette told reporters after Sunday’s win. “I think the guys played smart, and that’s all on them. They had a meeting. They weren’t happy with it and they straightened it out. They played a smart, hard game, especially with the turnaround.” The Predators lead Winnipeg by five points with three games remaining as they prepare to face Florida, which is hanging on in the race for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers stayed alive with a 3-2 home victory over Carolina on Monday, moving within five points of New Jersey for the final playoff spot with one game in hand, but three of their final four contests are against the top two teams in the league in points (Nashville, Boston twice). “The boys know it’s do or die, but we’re not going to go without a fight,” Florida defenseman MacKenzie Weegar told the Sun Sentinel. “We know what’s at stake here and we’ve worked too hard this year to go easy.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Tennessee (Nashville), FS Florida
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (51-17-11): Filip Forsberg has produced back-to-back three-point performances to take over the team lead with 61 - one more than Viktor Arvidsson, who missed Sunday's game and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. “When he’s going, he’s a big-time threat out there,” center Ryan Johansen told the Tennessean regarding Forsberg. “Great time for him to start ramping his game up. … He’s a motivated player right now.” Craig Smith scored his 23rd goal on Sunday to forge a tie for second on the team and pull within one of the career high he set in 2013-14.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (40-30-8): Aleksander Barkov set up a pair of goals in Monday’s win to push his team-leading total to 77 points - five more than Vincent Trocheck, who notched an assist against Carolina. Evgenii Dadonov scored for the fourth time in five games Monday to increase his total to 27 goals, second only to Trocheck (30), while defenseman Alex Petrovic netted his second tally of the season to snap a 2-2 tie. Roberto Luongo made 27 saves against the Hurricanes to post his 469th career victory in his 998th NHL appearance after losing four of his previous five starts.
OVERTIME
1. Panthers D Keith Yandle has recorded two goals and six assists in his last eight games, pulling within four of his career high of 59 points set in 2010-11.
2. The Predators have converted two of their six power-play chances over the last two games after going 2-for-41 in their previous 12 contests.
3. Nashville defeated Florida 4-3 on Jan. 20 behind two goals from LW Kevin Fiala and three points from C Nick Bonino.