Oilers at Predators
The Edmonton Oilers can assure themselves at least a .500 road trip if they can snap an eight-game losing streak against the surging Nashville Predators on Sunday. The Oilers are 2-2-0 on their six-game trek after a 2-1 setback at league-best Washington on Friday and have not beaten Nashville since March 2014, dropping the two previous meetings – one in a shootout.
Edmonton rebounded from a disappointing loss at Tampa Bay to beat Florida and took the Capitals down to the wire Friday, finishing with a 31-25 advantage in shots. “They’re really good, especially in Washington, but it was a good test to see where we’re at,” Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom told reporters. “It was a close, one-goal game. We’re taking this as a positive.” Nashville was able to conquer the Capitals 5-2 on Saturday as Filip Forsberg scored his seventh goal in three games and added a pair of assists as the Predators moved into third place in the Central Division. Nashville, which plays seven of nine games away from home after taking on Edmonton, has scored 25 goals during its 4-1-1 stretch and is 8-2-3 at home since Jan. 1.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, Sportsnet 360 (Edmonton), FSN Tennessee (Nashville)
ABOUT THE OILERS (33-21-8): Top-pair defenseman Adam Larsson (leg) is expected to miss his third straight game, but Edmonton could get blue-liner Darnell Nurse (ankle) back in the lineup for the first time since Dec. 1. Captain Connor McDavid, who entered Saturday first in the league with 69 points, has notched an assist in each of his last two games after getting shut out and posting a minus-3 rating at Tampa Bay. Linemate Leon Draisaitl tops the team with 23 goals and netted the only tally against Washington to push his point total to 54 - second on the club.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (30-22-9): Forsberg is the first NHL player to score seven goals in a three-game stretch since Michael Grabner accomplished the feat in 2011 while with the New York Islanders and leads the team with 23 tallies. Ryan Johansen has contributed six assists over his last three contests and tops the club with 46 points - one better than Forsberg and three in front of Viktor Arvidsson. Juuse Saros was in net for the win over Washington, meaning the nod on Sunday likely will go to veteran Pekka Rinne, who has struggled to an .837 save percentage over his last five starts.
OVERTIME
1. Nashville D Roman Josi has recorded six goals in his last eight games and 12 points in the past nine contests.
2. Edmonton G Cam Talbot, who has registered a career-best 31 wins, is 4-1-0 with a .931 save percentage in his last five starts.
3. Arvidsson scored eight goals in the first 62 games of his career but has collected 20 in 59 contests this season.