Kings at Predators
The Nashville Predators have tightened up defensively in the absence of P.K. Subban, yielding just three goals with the 27-year-old blue-liner sidelined three games by an upper-body injury. Subban could return to the lineup on Thursday as the Predators open a three-game homestand against a Los Angeles Kings team playing the sixth contest of its nine-game road trip.
Viktor Arvidsson notched three assists in a 5-1 win at New Jersey on Tuesday, giving the 23-year-old Swede nine points (two goals, seven assists) in the past eight games. Arvidsson also tallied in Nashville's 3-2 overtime setback to Los Angeles on Oct. 27, but Jeff Carter scored to end that contest and tallied twice in Tuesday's 3-2 shootout loss at Columbus. "We've got to put the puck in the net," the 31-year-old Carter said after his team registered 46 shots on goal versus the red-hot Blue Jackets. "We had a lot of good chances. I thought we did a lot of good things. We played well enough to win." Carter (team-leading 16 goals, 26 points) certainly hasn't been shy in the offensive end, erupting for 11 goals and four assists in his last 15 games.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NHL.TV, FSN West (Los Angeles), FSN Tennessee (Nashville)
ABOUT THE KINGS (16-13-3): Signed to an eight-year, $80 million contract last season, Anze Kopitar excels in a majority of aspects of the game even if scoring isn't one of them in 2016-17. "He's a captain, he plays a lot of minutes, he plays a lot of situations, and he'd like to score more," coach Darryl Sutter said of Kopitar (three goals), who he deemed as "the hardest working player" on the team. Former captain Dustin Brown told reporters he's ready to return on Thursday after sitting out two games with an upper-body injury.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (15-12-5): James Neal continued his scoring barrage by tallying twice in the first period Tuesday to increase his goal total to 13 in his last 18 games. Fellow forward Ryan Johansen scored and set up a goal versus the Devils to give him 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in his last 14 contests. Filip Forsberg has scored in back-to-back contests and has three goals in his last five games after mustering just two in his previous 27.
OVERTIME
1. Los Angeles C Tyler Toffoli, who scored in the first meeting with Nashville, has been held off the scoresheet in two straight games following a six-point performance in his previous five.
2. Predators D Mattias Ekholm has collected a goal and three assists in his past five games.
3. Kings G Peter Budaj made 24 saves in the first encounter with Nashville to improve to 8-5-0 in his career versus the club.
PREDICTION: Predators 2, Kings 1