Predators at Sharks
The Nashville Predators snapped a frustrating six-game losing streak last time out and look to continue turning their ship around when they visit the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. The Predators have lost a lot of their cushion in the Central Division, but own a two-point lead on St. Louis after James Neal’s overtime goal beat Arizona 2-1 on Monday. The Sharks have won three of the last four to remain in the hunt for a playoff spot, including a 2-1 shootout triumph over Pittsburgh on Monday.
San Jose resides four points behind Winnipeg for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference after Antti Niemi turned aside 39 shots against the Penguins. Pekka Rinne ended a five-game personal losing streak with 27 saves against Arizona for his 199th career victory while the Predators regained some confidence. “We were back on the positive (against Arizona) and doing good things in the offensive zone that make us a great hockey team,” Neal told the Tennessean.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, SNET360, FSN Tennessee (Nashville), CSN California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (42-19-7): One of the problems of late for Nashville has been the power play, which has converted only two of 35 opportunities over the last 11 contests. Neal took over the goal-scoring lead on the team with his 22nd and first in 10 games Monday to edge ahead of Craig Smith and rookie Filip Forsberg (21). Mike Ribeiro tops the Predators with 54 points and Forsberg has 53 – two in the last 10 games – while productive defensemen Roman Josi and Shea Weber combine for 90.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (33-26-8): Joe Pavelski saw his five-game point streak come to an end against Pittsburgh, but has collected 14 points over the last 13 games to lead the team with 61. Joe Thornton has posted five points in the last four games and moved within four assists of 900 in his career while Logan Couture has managed just one goal in nine games. Top-six defenseman Matt Irwin has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury and is questionable for Thursday’s contest.
OVERTIME
1. Nashville is 8-2-1 in its last 11 meetings with San Jose, including a 5-1 victory Feb. 17 at home.
2. San Jose RW Ben Smith boasts a goal and two assists with a plus-2 rating in four games since being acquired from Chicago.
3. Nashville F Colin Wilson leads the team with a plus-21 rating and is one shy of 100 assists in his career.