The Nashville Predators‘ homestand will continue tonight at Bridgestone Arena as the Washington Capitals are in town.
It will be the final time all-time that the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer Alexander Ovechkin will be a visitor in Music City.
Head coach Andrew Brunette shared his thoughts on going up against Washington’s captain.
“The game is going to miss him. I won’t miss coaching against him, but the game will miss him,” Brunette said. “I think he’s been an ambassador of the game for a long time. Hockey is going to feel weird when he’s gone.”
All-time against Nashville, the Russian goal scorer has 32 points in 31 career games against the Predators. He’s riding a 6-game point streak against the Predators as well, posting 9 points in that span.
How Nashville will line up against Washington
Last time out against the New York Islanders, the Predators dressed 11 forwards and 7 defensemen for the fifth time this season.
There is a trend that will continue this evening since Nashville has depth at defense on their current roster.
Brunette said it’s a game-time decision whether he opts to play a seventh defenseman tonight against the Capitals.
Should that happen, then in all likelihood that seventh D-man would be Daemon Hunt, who was acquired from the Minnesota Wild off waivers last weekend.
“Being rejected by an organization is tough, right, mentally. Accepting that and not being frustrated by their decisions. Very grateful for this opportunity to come here and be part of Nashville,” Hunt said on Tuesday about going through his waivers experience last week.
Here is how the Predators lines looked at morning skate before playing Washington
Stamkos – O’Reilly – Bourque
Forsberg – Kerfoot – Pinchuk
Hoglander – Wood – Marchessault
Colton – Drury – Edstrom
Josi – Wilsby
Hague – Struble
Skjei – Perbix
Hunt – Lyubushkin
Saros *will start*
Annunen
Vitali Pinchuk’s limited ice time in Nashville
While the Predators had the Belarusian forward on the second line this morning during line rushes, that doesn’t mean he will be playing.
Pinchuk has been a scratch 7 times this season, and Brunette sounded off on his lack of ice time earlier this week and left no doubt as to why his playing time is limited.
“We’re trying to build his game. Trying to figure out how he fits in our lineup and where he fits: center or wing. Small sample sizes; we didn’t really have a whole lot of time to wait for him. We’ve talked about how important the start is, and I don’t think he’s quite up to speed with the North American game and where he fits in our lineup,” Brunette said.
“We’re going to continue to work with him. You see, he has some offensive ability, and we have to get comfortable that he can play some minutes. Not just come in and play a few shifts. That’s a little bit of a growing part with us and with him.”
Perhaps the Predators will give Pinchuk a chance to play and earn more ice time with Ovechkin in town for his final game in Nashville.
Pinchuk being at the wing would allow him to still step in and take faceoffs when needed. When he has played there has been glimpses of scoring chances which the Predators will need more of to be competitive in the Central Division.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Nashville Predators Lineup Changes Before Capitals Clash