Nashville finds themselves in an interesting situation for the Western Conference playoff race. The LA Kings are a long way from catching up to them, down 10 points with just six games to go. While it would be a miracle for them to lose the spot, the Predators would like nothing more than to wrap things up sooner than later simply. They'll be hosting Toronto, who is facing a dicier situation in trying to hold onto their spot in the Atlantic Division. Puck drop is at 8:00 PM Eastern time on Thursday night and the game can be seen on NHL.tv, FSN Tennessee, and TSN4 in Toronto.
Maple Leafs (36-24-15, 87 points, 3rd Atlantic)
Entering Thursday night's action, Toronto finds themselves four points away from second place in the division, but they're also only four points clear of third place in the wild card. Boston could also leapfrog them in the standings should they fall in this game, and the Bruins win tonight. The good news is the Maple Leafs have won four of their last five games, and they start a road trip that that isn't too daunting down the stretch.
Goaltender Frederik Andersen (30-15-14) is likely to go in this contest. He missed the previous game due to a head injury. Left wing Josh Leivo (10 pts) missed two straight games with an unspecified injury. He's questionable for this contest, and he scored his second goal of the season March 23rd against New Jersey.
Predators (40-30-6, 86 points, 4th Central)
Nashville won four consecutive games before falling to Boston 4-1 on Tuesday night. They'll look to put the Kings out of their misery with a victory tonight. If it doesn't happen, they have tough looming matches ahead with Minnesota and St. Louis.
Center Mike Fisher (41 pts) looks ready to go for the Predators in this matchup.
He's listed as probable after not participating in the last four games with a lower-body injury. He last scored a goal against Winnipeg back on March 13th.
Nashville is listed as -135 home favorites in this game. The Maple Leafs have won two of their last three meetings against the Predators.
