Nashville @ Ottawa preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 17, 2018 ) Nashville 3, Ottawa 4

The Nashville Predators cited the importance of the team's current four-game road trip before even taking a step outside of Music City. The Predators responded with two impressive victories to start a trek that continues in Canada's capital against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.

"We talked about this as a big week, a season-defining week, maybe," Nashville's Nick Bonino said after scoring the go-ahead goal in the second period of Tuesday's 8-3 rout of the New York Islanders. "We'd love to get all four, but just to start with two is big. It's tough not to look at the standings right now. We've got some games in hand, so these back-to-backs are always huge, and now we'll go to Ottawa." Captain Roman Josi enjoyed a strong 24 hours in the Metropolitan area, following up his three-point performance (two goals, one assist) in Monday's 5-2 victory over the New York Rangers with another goal against the Islanders. The Senators have nine losses in their last 12 games (3-7-2), but there is reason for optimism as they return home to Canadian Tire Centre -- where they sport a 9-5-0 mark. Anthony Duclair, the NHL's Second Star of the Week, has scored nine of his club-best 19 goals over his last seven contests.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Tennessee (Nashville), TSN5, RDS (Ottawa)

ABOUT THE PREDATORS (16-12-5): Although Nashville is only halfway through its road trip, Josi was pleased with what he saw from his club after the sum of the last two contests matched the total of the previous four. "The last two games shows what we need to do to be successful in this league," the 29-year-old Josi told Fox Sports Tennessee. "We need to work. We need to stay (the course) for 60 minutes." Josi stepped up his play against the Senators last season, collecting two goals and two assists -- with one of each being scored on the power play.

ABOUT THE SENATORS (14-18-3): Ottawa has been decimated by injury along its blue line, with Nikita Zaitsev (lower body) and Dylan DeMelo (hand) expected to be sidelined for a while. Those absences created a need for rookie coach D.J. Smith to lean on defenseman Thomas Chabot, who logged a robust 37:50 of ice time in Tuesday's 4-3 overtime loss to Tampa Bay. "The minutes certainly were a little high," Smith said. "I don't know if it's the highest in the NHL this year but he was certainly really good. It's not ideal for the long run, certainly. We needed a point or better and we got it."

OVERTIME

1. Ottawa C Jean Gabriel-Pageau has followed up a sizzling 14-point performance in November with just four this month.

2. Predators G Pekka Rinne sports an 8-3-0 record in 12 career appearances against the Senators.

3. Ottawa G Anders Nilsson owns a 7-3-0 mark with a 2.43 goals-against average at home this season, as opposed to a 2-6-2 record with a 3.99 GAA on the road.

PREDICTION: Senators 3, Predators 2