The Nashville Predators will have Tommy Novak back tonight as they welcome Nikita Kucherov and the Tampa Bay Lightning to Bridgestone Arena tonight.
The Predators return home after two hard fought road wins to take on the 12-10-5 Tampa Bay Lightning at Bridgestone Arena tonight.
The Lightning
Tampa Bay will be playing their second game in a back to back after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 last night. That was the LIghtning's second win in a row after a four game losing streak in which they were outscored 19-5. Tampa Bay has righted the ship in their last two games and come to tonight's game with the league's points leader in Nikita Kucherov and the third highest scoring team in the NHL so far this season.
Andrei Vasilevskiy started in net last night in his sixth game of the season after missing the first twenty games recovering from back surgery. Nashville will likely see Jonas Johansson who is 8-5-0-5 in his 18 starts for the Lightning, earning a .892 save percentage and 3.44 goals against average.
Tonight will also mark the first trip back to Nashville for former Predator Tanner Jeannot. Jeannot was traded to Tampa Bay last February, and tonight will be Jeannot's 200th career NHL game.
The Predators
Tommy Novak is expected to return to the lineup tonight for the Nashville Predators after missing eleven games with an upper body injury. Novak had six goals and 12 points in his fourteen games before being injured and centered an offensively productive line with Kiefer Sherwood and Luke Evangelista.
Novak was glad to get back out on the ice with the team at morning skate.
"It's nice to be back out there with the team," Novak said post skate this morning. "I'm really excited."
"They've been playing really hard every night. A lot of consistency," Novak said when asked what he has seen from the team as he's been forced to watch the last eleven games. "It's been a relentless group."
Novak may return to a slightly different line tonight. In morning skate, he played with Evangelista and Juuso Pärssinen while Kiefer Sherwood joined Michael McCarron and Phil Tomasino.
Head Coach Andrew Brunette is looking forward to getting Novak back in the lineup.
"He's played extremely well all season. We've missed him when he's been gone," Brunette said. "He creates chances all the time. Probably one of our more creative players, so excited to have him."
Brunette is hoping Novak's return will also spark Luke Evangelista's game tonight as well.
"[Novak] and Luke have a really good chemistry together so I'm looking forward to watching them play."
Juuse Saros was first off the ice at morning skate and is expected to start in net for Nashville.
Keys to the Game
Special Teams
Tampa Bay's power play currently ranks second in the league, and Brunette's past experience against the Lightning's power play means he is well aware of how dangerous the Lightning can be with the man advantage.
"Being in Florida for those years...you just pull your hair out, they're that good," Brunette said of competing against Tampa Bay's power play. "They've been doing it together for so long. Kind of have nightmares for the last five years."
"Maybe stay out of the box would be a great idea," he added.
Tampa Bay also has the tenth best penalty kill, but perhaps the return of Tommy Novak can help the Predators capitalize on power play chances. Of Novak's six goals this season, four of them have come on the power play.
Bring the Physicality
Nashville hopes to take advantage of this being Tampa Bay's second game of a back to back.
"We need to make it real tough on them especially with them playing last night," Ryan O'Reilly said after morning skate. "We got to try to wear them down right away. Start like that and eventually, hopefully by later in the game we'll be able to take it over."
The Predators rank second this season in hits per game, and while they will want to capitalize on that physical edge, Nashville needs to be sure to keep the hits clean and not wind up in the penalty box.
Top Line vs Top Line
The Lightning have scored the third most goals of any team this season, and much of that offense has come from their top line of Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, and Brayden Point. The Predators will need to defend well when that top line is on the ice and Filip Forsberg, Ryan O'Reilly, and Gustav Nyquist will need to finish on their offensive chances.
Ryan O'Reilly believes the key to Nashville's offensive chances comes down to getting to the hard areas.
"You have to own that middle of the ice. That's where offense builds out of," O'Reilly said. "When we get into issues offensively, we're getting too stuck on the outside. We're not getting to the hard areas."
"We have to be smart and obviously have possession, but it's also having a possession come from the inside and make sure we are in the dangerous ice."
Watch/Listen
The Predators take on the Lightning tonight at Bridgestone Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm CT and Bally Sports South and ESPN+ will carry the broadcast while 102.5 The Game will have the radio call.