The Nashville Predators will look to extend their winning streak to four games when they host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday in the first of a home-and-home between the two clubs.
Filip Forsberg scored twice and added two assists as the Predators defeated the Minnesota Wild 6-2 on Saturday night. Colton Sissons, Fedor Svechkov, Brady Skjei and Steven Stamkos also scored for Nashville.
Captain Roman Josi added two assists and Juuse Saros made 27 saves.
“I think it’s certainly proof that we can play any style of game, really,” Forsberg said. “They wanted to come in here and play physical — we obviously knew that was going to happen — and I thought we answered the bell really well and it’s definitely a step forward for us.”
Forsberg, the NHL’s second star of the week, has goals in five straight games. The Predators leader with 42 points in 45 games, Forsberg has points in seven consecutive contests (six goals, six assists).
Stamkos, the team leader with 16 goals in 45 games, has four goals over his past three outings. Josi has points in five straight games (one goal, six assists).
On Monday, the Predators announced that Mark Jankowski would be sidelined week-to-week due to an upper-body injury suffered during the win over the Wild. The center was injured during a first-period fight with Minnesota forward Ryan Hartman.
Forward Cole Smith (lower-body injury), who has been out of the lineup since Dec. 21 after blocking a shot against the Los Angeles Kings, is now considered day-to-day.
Saros is 11-18-6 with a .905 save percentage and a 2.72 goals-against average in 35 starts this season. In 15 career appearances against the Sharks, Saros is 12-2-1 with a .937 save percentage and a 1.79 GAA.
Tuesday is the first of three meetings between the two clubs, who occupy two of the bottom three places in the Western Conference. Nashville won all three meetings last season, outscoring San Jose 17-5.
The Sharks enter Tuesday’s contest following a 6-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Monday afternoon.
Will Smith had a goal and an assist, and Fabian Zetterlund and Barclay Goodrow also scored for San Jose, which has lost three in a row and six of seven.
Yaroslav Askarov stopped 27 shots.
San Jose led 3-2 entering the third period before surrendering four unanswered to the Bruins in the final 20 minutes.
“I thought for the majority of the game, I liked our game. We just got very immature in the third period,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “Just a young team that got scrambly. They put us on our heels, and we couldn’t relieve the pressure by making some plays. We got back to flipping pucks into the middle of the ice, and they just feed off that stuff.”
Tyler Toffoli (lower body), the Sharks leader with 17 goals in 47 games, missed Monday’s game.
Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev is 2-8-0 in 10 starts with the Sharks this season, posting an .888 save percentage and a 3.56 GAA. In 11 career games against the Predators, Georgiev is 6-4-0 with a .909 save percentage and a 2.70 GAA.
San Jose activated Nikolai Kovalenko off injured reserve on Monday, but the forward did not play in the loss to the Bruins. Kovalenko has been sidelined since Jan. 7 with an upper-body injury.
The Sharks and Predators meet again Thursday in San Jose before concluding the season series on March 11 in the Bay Area.
–Field Level Media
