While Nashville’s current offensive trend worries me, I trust the Predators more. I just think Nashville is much more sound than the Sharks. In five games in San Jose, Saros is 3-1-1 with a. Saros is also a monster whenever he plays the Sharks, and even better at the Shark Tank. They hold the worst home record (6-14-7) and the Predators are 11-12-3 on the road. One aspect to note is that the Sharks are terrible at home. I also think with Forsberg and Johansen out, it hamstrings the Predators’ ability to create anything of value. Nashville clearly has the goaltending advantage and is slightly better defensively, while San Jose has the offensive upper hand. It might not matter who steps in the blue paint, but it's still worth monitoring. Reimer has a slightly better -7.0 GSAx and an. He was out for a month due to injury, but Kaapo Kahkonen didn’t do much to win the job from him with a -14.7 GSAx and an. I'm curious if we’ll see James Reimer in net. The Sharks are also among the worst in xGA. San Jose is a bit of a mess on the defensive end, allowing over 3 1/2 goals per game. They’ve had a 10th-best expected goals rate of 52.67 xGF% and create the most high danger chances out of all teams. The Sharks have actually been one of the better offensive teams this month.

Behind them, the Sharks have received solid production from captain Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl. The Sharks won’t be with another trade target in Timo Meier, as he’s dealing with a lower body injury. Will Erik Karlsson be traded before the deadline? The veteran defenseman is reminding everyone why he’s one of the best defensemen of our time with 76 points in 58 games. Saros is consistently one of the league’s better netminders, playing to a +24.4 goals saved above expected (GSAx) and a very good. I would expect Juuse Saros to take the crease in this matchup. The Predators always seem to have their goaltending bail them out. What was once always an incredible defensive team, now allows way too many expected goals (xGA). Since February 6th, they’re 30th in expected goals with a 43.12 xGF% and own the fourth worst power play in the league.ĭefensively, Nashville needs to be better. Matt Duchene isn’t repeating his incredible year from last year, but he’s still good for a goal here and there.įebruary has been a terrible month for the Predators to generate substantial offense. Luckily, Roman Josi is among the better offensive defensemen and the Preds can always count on him. Ryan Johansen is out for the season and leading goal scorer Filip Forsberg is day-to-day. Nashville will be coming into this game a bit hobbled.

Nashville predators vs sharks