All the momentum the Nashville Predators had following their two-game Thanksgiving road trip to Detroit and Chicago evaporated Saturday night, when they returned home and lost 5-2 to the Winnipeg Jets.
Nick Blankenburg and Luke Evangelista tallied the only goals for the Preds. Blankenburg tied his season high in goals by scoring his fourth on Saturday. The goal also extended his point streak to four games (3g-2a), which included a multi-point outing on Wednesday at Detroit (1g-1a).
Evangelista posted an assist along with his goal for two points on Saturday to push his point streak to four games (2g-5a).
It was the second game of a back-to-back, a scenario which hasn’t been kind to the Preds this season. While they have a 3-0-1 record in the opener of back-to-backs, they are 0-2-1 on the second night.
On Tuesday, the Predators will try and regroup when they host the Calgary Flames at Bridgestone Arena. This is the second of three meetings between the two clubs this season; Nashville won the first encounter, 4-2, on Nov. 1 at Bridgestone Arena.
Here is everything you need to know ahead of Tuesday’s contest.
Game Day
Who: Nashville Predators (8-13-4) vs. Calgary Flames (9-14-4)
Where: Bridgestone Arena
When: 7 Pm CST
TV: FanDuel Sports Network South
Radio: 102.5 The Game
Betting line (via BetMGM):
Flames
+1.5 (-235)
O 5.5 (-120)
+100
Predators
-1.5 (+195)
U 5.5 (+100)
-120
Injury Report
Cole Smith, currently on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, skated during Tuesday morning's practice for the first time since going on IR.
Michael McCarron and Justin Barron also practiced and are day-to-day with lower-body injuries.
November Notes
The Predators finished the month of November with a 4-7-2 mark, equaling their win total from October when they went 4-6-2. Their longest winning streak during November was two, and the longest point streak was three.
The Preds had a five-game losing skid from Nov. 3-10, going 0-3-2 during that span.
One of the team's bright spots in November was rookie Matthew Wood. He led all NHL rookies in the month in goals (six) and tied for fourth in points (nine).
The 20-year-old Wood, who last scored on Friday in Chicago against the Blackhawks, also tallied his first career hat trick on Nov. 10 against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden (3g).
Preds Leaders
Ryan O’Reilly (8g-10a) leads the Preds with 18 points, followed by Filip Forsberg (9g-8a) and Evangelista (4g-13a) with 17 points apiece.
Juuse Saros is 7-9-3 with a 3.08 goals-against average and .889 save percentage. Justus Annunen is 1-4-1, 3.94, .850.
The Predators rank seventh in the NHL in faceoff percentage (52.7 percent). Leading the way for Nashville is Ryan O’Reilly, who is seventh in the NHL in face-offs won (258).
Scouting The Flames
Calgary concludes a five-game road trip Tuesday night in Nashville. The Flames are coming off a 1-0 OT loss on Saturday in Carolina to the Hurricanes.
Nazem Kadri (5g-16a) leads the Flames with 21 points, followed by Rasmus Andersson (5g-13a) with 18 points on the defensive side.
Dustin Wolf is 6-12-2 in net for the Flames with a 3.17 GAA and .890 SP. Devin Cooley is 3-2-2, 1.88, .931.
Flames rearguard Rasmus Andersson finished the month of November with a team-leading 14 points, recording three goals and 11 assists in 15 games. The Malmo, SWE, native posted four multi-point outings, including a pair of three-point nights on Nov. 19 in Buffalo (1-2—3) and Nov. 23 in Vancouver (0-3—3). He was named the NHL’s first star of the week for the period ending Nov. 23 after posting a league-high nine points from Nov. 18–23.
On the power play, Calgary is 12-for-90 (13.3%), dead last out of the 32 NHL teams. They are much better on the penalty kill; 16-of-88 (81.8%), 10th in the League.
Head To Head
The Preds are 24-14-9 at home all-time against Calgary. Nashville is 6-4-0 in their last 10 overall matchups versus the Flames and 3-2-0 in their last five at Bridgestone Arena.
The Predators have only lost seven times in regulation to the Flames since Dec. 15, 2015 (15-7-6) and have picked up at least one point in 30 of their last 41 games (22-11-8).