Time: 8:30pm ET
Place: Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN
TV: BSDET, BSSO
Radio: 97.1 FM The Ticket
PredatorsBlog: On the Forecheck
No rest for the road weary. A night after the Red Wings played host to the Dallas Stars the travel down to Music City to take on a very strong Nashville Predators team.
The Predators welcome the Red Wings to Bridgestone Arena sitting in second place in the Central Division and tied for sixth overall in the NHL. Nashville has seen an increase in their offensive output this season, sitting fifteenth in the NHL is scoring at 3.07 goals per game. Their defense may not have the same level of name recognition as their teams of old, but they do still have Roman Josi. The Predators captain is putting together a Norris caliber season so far this season, playing quality defense in his own zone while currently sitting second in defenseman scoring (one behind leader Victor Hedman) with 42 points in 40 games. In the net, Juuse Saros is having another fantastic year in goal with a .924 save percentage in 34 games. Backup David Rittich is not having as good a season (.882 save percentage in 7 games) so if the Predators elect to start their backup it could be a plus for Detroit.
The Red Wings will look tonight to improve on their poor road performances this year and they will need to bring their A game to do it. Nashville has been playing well this season and with Josi’s ability to move the puck out of the back end and their improved finishing this season it will be a long game for Detroit if they play sloppy or too loose.