GAME DAY: Preds at Canucks, Jan. 3

The Nashville Predators will begin the 2025 calendar year tonight in Vancouver against the Canucks for a 9 pm CT puck drop at Rogers Arena. Tonight’s match is the second of three meetings between the two clubs this season; The Preds defeated the Canucks in November.

The Predators had a successful homestand before the holidays, but finished 2024 with a trio of losses, including a back-to-back series in Winnipeg and Minnesota, the latter of which came on New Year’s Eve. Now, the Preds will turn their attention to the remaining three games of their trip, a return across Western Canada, which begins tonight in Vancouver.

“Certain nights, goaltending, penalties, taking too many penalties lose momentum; those things, that’s been the story of the year,” Preds head coach Andrew Morena said after Tuesday’s loss at Minnesota. “It has been like this, you cover a hole and it is another hole. Give the group a lot of credit, they’re still fighting. I think they showed a lot of determination today. We never give up, we never give up, and when we get through this, we will be better. We just have to believe that and keep working.”

On Thursday, the Predators recalled forward Ozzy Wiesblatt and defenseman Spencer Stastney from Milwaukee (AHL), and both players participated in yesterday’s practice in Vancouver.

Defenseman Adam Wilsby (upper body, day-to-day) and Jeremy Lauzon (lower body) were absent for practice in Vancouver. Wilsby did not play in Minnesota and Lauzon left Tuesday’s game and did not return.

On Thursday afternoon, the NHL announced a three-game suspension for Preds forward Zach L’Heureux following an incident in Tuesday’s game at Minnesota. L’Heureux will miss Nashville’s next three games, including tonight in Vancouver.

Last departure:

Colton Sissons, Jonathan Marchessault and Ryan O’Reilly scored in Nashville’s 5-3 loss at Minnesota on New Year’s Eve. Goaltender Justus Annunen took the loss in net as the Preds gave up three power-play goals to the Wild.

The good ones:

Filip Forsberg leads the Preds with 30 points (9g-21a), followed by Marchessault (14g-13a) with 27 points and Roman Josi (7g-17a) with 24 points. Steven Stamkos has 11 goals and 23 points; O’Reilly has nine touchdowns and 22 points. Juuse Saros is 8-16-6 in net; Annunen is 8-6-0 overall.

The opposition:

The Canucks won last night in the penalty shootout in Seattle against the Kraken: 4-3 was the final. Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes, who did not play against the Kraken due to injury, leads the Canucks with 42 points (8g-34a), followed by Elias Pettersson (10g-18a), who also did not play last night, with 28 points. Conor Garland (10g-19a) has 29 points on the season, Jake DeBrusk has 16 goals and 28 points, while Brock Boeser has 14 goals and 25 points. Goalie Thatcher Demko, who left last night’s game due to injury, is 2-1-3 this season; Former Preds goalie Kevin Lankinen, who got the win in relief, is 15-6-4.

All-time meetings:

The Predators are 36-42-(2)-7 all-time against the Canucks, including a 17-24-(1)-1 record at Rogers Arena.

The Predators are 1-3-1 in their last five games against the Canucks; are 5-4-1 in their last 10; and 3-1-1 in their last five road games.

The two teams met in the First Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs; Vancouver won the series, 4-2. Filip Forsberg led Nashville with six points (2g-4a) in the six-game series. It was the second time they met in the postseason: in the first meeting, the 2011 Western Conference Semifinals, the Canucks won 4-2.

Notables against Vancouver:

Jonathan Marchessault has recorded 25 points (11g-14a) in 23 career games against Vancouver. This is the fourth-most points he has recorded against a single franchise in his career. He has points in his last three games with Vancouver (3g-1a).

Steven Stamkos has accumulated 30 points (18g-12a) in 21 games against the Canucks. His 1.43 points per game against Vancouver are the most he has recorded against any team (minimum 3 GP).

Juuse Saros is 6-2-1 in his career against Vancouver in the regular season.

North Vancouver native Colton Sissons has 11 points (7g-4a) in 23 career games against the Canucks.

Roman Josi has points in eight of his last 12 games (2g-7a) against Vancouver. He also has 18 points (2g-16a) in his last 21 games against the Canucks and recorded a six-point streak (7a) against Vancouver from January 10, 2017 to December 1, 2017. 13, 2018.

Luke Schenn played in 139 games for the Canucks between 2018-19 and 2021-23, scoring 40 points (8g-32a).

Canucks forward Kiefer Sherwood (2022-24) and goalie Kevin Lankinen (2022-24) previously played for the Predators.

Look and listen:

Coverage of tonight’s game begins at 8:30 pm CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on FanDuel Sports Network South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley. Announcer Willy Daunic and analyst Chris Mason will have the call on the television side.

Max Herz and Hal Gill will call the game on 102.5 The Game and Predators Radio Network. The game will also be broadcast in Spanish on El Jefe, which airs on 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM and 810 AM. (The game is also broadcast in Spanish on El Jefe on 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM and 810 AM.)