National Hockey League action on Tuesday evening and a pair of teams from the Central Division will square off as the Nashville Predators invade Little Ceasars Arena in Detroit to rumble with the Detroit Red Wings. The Predators enter this game at 7-10 while the Red Wings come in at 5-15. These teams have split the first two meetings this year.
Preds Grab Big Road Win Against Columbus
The Nashville Predators are not having a good season so far as they enter this game at 7-10 overall. They do enter this game off a nice 4-2 road win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, and it was a much-needed win after going 1-5 in their previous six games. Nashville is now in a tie for 6th place in the Central Division, but there is still a long way to go this season. For Nashville to turn things around, they need to get their offense going. The Preds have been one of the worst offensive teams in the league, and they have scored a total of 12 goals over their last seven games. When these teams played last week, the Preds scored just five goals in the two games.Head Coach John Hynes says forwards Ryan Johansen and Brad Richardson practiced in full and could return vs. Detroit. @Bridgestone | #Preds pic.twitter.com/jfuRXDGWG3
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) February 22, 2021
The four goals scored against the Blue Jackets were the most for Nashville since February 4th when they beat Florida 6-5 in OT. Scoring in the win against the Jackets was Calle Jarnkrok, who scored twice and now has four on the year, Colton Sissons, which was his 3rd, and Filip Forsberg, which was his 8th. Snatching up the win was Pekka Rinne, who stopped 21 of the 23 shots he faced to improve to 4-5 with a 2.65 GAA overall, including 2-2 with a 2.73 GAA on the road. In his career, he has gone 137-143 with a 2.59 GAA on the road and 14-18 with a 2.61 GAA against the Red Wings.
Team Stats & Rankings: Nashville enters this contest ranked 29th in scoring at 2.29 gpg, 9th in shots per game at 31.5, and 24th in power-play conversions at 15.0%. At the defensive end of the ice, they are ranked 27th in goals allowed at 3.35 gpg, 15th in shots per game allowed at 29.2, and 30th in penalty kill at 68.3%.
Red Wings Pull A Stunner Against The Panthers
The Detroit Red Wings are in the midst of another long season, and it will only get longer for them as the season goes on. Detroit just played a couple of games against the Florida Panthers at home, and after losing game one by a score of 7-2, they were able to bounce back with a stunning 2-1 win in game two. Detroit is still just 5-15 on the year and in last place in the Central Division. They will now be looking for their first two-game winning streak of the year. Detroit had the worst offense in the league last year, and they have the 2nd worst this year. Detroit has now scored just 13 goals in their last seven games, and they will be looking to notch a few in this one against a Nashville team that has allowed 3.88 gpg on the road so far.Scoring in the win over Florida was Patrik Nemeth, which was his 1st of the year, and Mathias Brome, which was the first of his career. Detroit has six players that have scored four or more goals, but no one else has more than two. Bobby Ryan, Anthony Mantha, and Tyler Bertuzzi each have five goals, while Dylan Larkin leads the team in points with seven. Grabbing the win was Jonathan Bernier, who stopped 38 of the 39 shots he faced to improve to 4-2 with a 2.74 GAA on the year. He is 10-4 with a 2.40 GAA against the Preds. We may see Thomas Greiss, who is 1-13 with a 3.16 GAA on the year, and he is 3-8 with a 3.59 GAA against the Preds in his career.
Team Stats & Rankings: Detroit enters this contest ranked 30th in scoring at 1.95 gpg, 28th in shots per game at 27.5, and 31st in power-play conversions at 6.5%. At the defensive end of the ice, they are ranked 23rd in goals allowed at 3.20 gpg, 16th in shots per game allowed at 29.5, and 28th in penalty kill at 71.9%.
Team Trends
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Nashville is:
- The Road team is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings
- 5-2 in their last 7 games as a favorite
Trends Are Courtesy Of Covers.com Detroit is:
- 15-40 in their last 55 games playing on 2 days rest
- 13-39 in their last 52 vs. a team with a losing record.
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