San Jose Sharks @ Predators (Game 13): Preview

The Nashville Predators look to rebound after a disappointing weekend against the Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks. This game for the Predators will be the second game of their home stretch at Bridgestone Arena. For the San Jose Sharks, they look to derail this losing streak that started when Nashville was able to defeat them in overtime at the "Shark Tank." Puck drops at 7:07 PM CT/5:07 PM PT.

TV/Radio Coverage

Nashville: Fox Sports Tennessee and 102.5 The Game

San Jose: CSN-CA and KFOX

Season Series

Line Up News

Starting Goaltenders:

Name	W	L	OT	GAA	SV%
#35 Pekka Rinne	4	3	3	1.92	.929
#31 Antti Niemi	6	1	2	1.82	.933

Projected Nashville Scratches: #4 D Ryan Ellis and #23 W Brian McGrattan

Projected San Jose Scratches: #5 D Jason Demers, #10 C Andrew Desjardins and #42 W Matt Pelech

Projected Lines

Nashville

#33 Colin Wilson	#11 David Legwand	#57 Gabriel Bourque
#15 Craig Smith	#12 Mike Fisher	#10 Martin Erat
#18 Brandon Yip	#13 Nick Spaling	#74 Sergei Kostitsyn
#16 Richard Clune	#28 Paul Gaustad	#24 Matt Halischuk

#6 Shea Weber	#22 Scott Hannan
#8 Kevin Klein	#59 Roman Josi
#75 Hal Gill	#7 Jonathan Blum

#35 Pekka Rinne

#30 Chris Mason

San Jose

#29 Ryan Clowe	#19 Joe Thornton	#8 Joe Pavelski
#12 Patrick Marleau	#39 Logan Couture	#9 Martin Havlat
#15 James Sheppard	#26 Michal Handzus	#57 Tommy Wingels
#21 TJ Galiardi	#23 Scott Gomez	#37 Adam Burish

#44 Marc-Edouard Vlasic	#22 Dan Boyle
#7 Brad Stuart	#88 Brent Burns
#3 Douglas Murray	#61 Justin Braun

#31 Antti Niemi

#1 Thomas Greiss

Thoughts on Both Teams

Predators: Nashville is struggling. This weekend, the Predators were just falling on bad luck starting with the overtime loss in Minnesota after a terrible penalty call on Paul Gaustad. Then, a hot Chicago team came into Nashville ready to play and shutout the Preds, 3-0. However, the worst thing about the situation is head coach Barry Trotz is unable to fix the problems on the ice during practice because, due to NHL mandated rules, players should have the day off after back-to-back games. Instead, all of the work will have to be done on film and minor fixes in morning skate Tuesday.

On changes to the lineup, none have been reported, but look for Trotz to end his seven defensemen rotation and go back to the traditional six. Jonathan Blum has been the seventh defenseman, but due to his excellent play, expect him to stay in the roster. In doing so means Trotz will be forced to scratch a solid defenseman, say like Ryan Ellis, since he and Blum are very similar players.

Sergei Kostitsyn has had flashes of success in his twelve games this season, but has consistently been making mistakes. Kostitsyn hasn't been firing the puck as much, but rather making that extra unnecessary pass that ends up being a turnover. The most frustrating thing about Kostitsyn's game is that when he does shoot, it usually goes into the back of the net. The Predators will need to see success out him in order for the team to score more goals.

The keys for Nashville is to limit turnovers, get back to the hard forecheck and shoot early, often.

Sharks: Ever since losing to the Predators in overtime on February 2, the San Jose Sharks are winless after a 7-0-0 start to the season. Monday night, that didn't change in losing to the Columbus Blue Jackets. They will be seeking revenge and to snap this losing streak at once.

Playing back-to-backs are never easy especially when the team is unable to travel back home. This is the situation the Sharks are in, as after the game in Columbus, they had to hop on a plane and fly to Nashville to get some rest and participate in a late morning skate.

Head coach Todd McLellan has been making a few lineup changes throughout this losing streak, but have been unable to help his team get a win. Maybe McLellan goes back to the old top two lines with Marleau-Thornton-Pavelski and Clowe-Couture-Pavelski. If this happens, the top four defenseman will have their hands full.

San Jose Sharks Players to Watch:

*Stats are prior to Monday's game vs Columbus