Predators at Panthers
The Nashville Predators continue their pursuit of the top seed in the Western Conference when they visit the Florida Panthers on Sunday. The Predators, who own the league's best home record at 21-3-1, are two points in front of St. Louis for first place in the Central Division and one behind Anaheim for the best record in the league. Nashville has won six of its last eight meetings with Florida, including a 3-2 home victory in a shootout on Nov. 22.
The Panthers are seven points behind Boston - with two games in hand - for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, having won two straight following a skid during which they dropped seven of eight. Florida opened its three-game homestand by scoring a pair of third-period goals to rally for a 3-2 victory over defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles on Thursday. "There's no quit. That's huge for a young team like us," goaltender Roberto Luongo said.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, FSN Tennessee (Nashville), FSN Florida
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (34-12-6): Nashville continues to get tremendous production from its blue-line corps, with Roman Josi scoring a goal and setting up Shea Weber's tally in Saturday's 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers. Josi matched his career high with 27 assists and has 37 points while Weber has collected 36 for the Predators, who have received a league-high 134 points from their defensemen. Colin Wilson, who is tied for the team lead with 17 goals, left Saturday's game with an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (23-17-10): Brandon Pirri delivered the game-winning goal with 3:05 to play in the third period against Los Angeles, extending a torrid stretch during which he has scored in four straight games and six of the last seven. "Things are going good right now," Pirri said. "You just try not to overthink it. Just shoot pucks because when they're going in, they're going in. You just try to ride this as long as possible." Captain Willie Mitchell (upper body) and forward Sean Bergenheim (flu) are both expected to miss Sunday's game.
OVERTIME
1. Panthers C Aleksander Barkov has five goals and five assists in his last 11 games.
2. Predators G Pekka Rinne became the third netminder since the expansion era to post 30 wins in fewer than 40 starts.
3. The Panthers have surrendered a power-play goal in four consecutive games.