Nashville @ Winnipeg preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 12, 2020 ) Nashville 1, Winnipeg 0

The Winnipeg Jets host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday as both teams look to shake off recent slumps that have each sitting outside of playoff position. Winnipeg is 10th in the West (three points behind eighth-place Arizona to start the week) after snapping a five-game losing streak with Saturday’s 5-2 victory over St. Louis, while Nashville trails the Jets by one point after its modest two-game winning streak ended with a 3-0 loss Saturday to Vegas.

The Predators struggled to sustain anything offensively against Vegas, following up encouraging road victories at Washington and New Jersey by recording 19 shots on goal and finishing 0-for-5 on the power play. “Another home loss, and I guess the way it happened, too,” Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne told reporters after Saturday’s defeat dropped the Predators to 11-11-4 at home. “They had a back-to-back, and it looked (like) they were the more fresh team.” Winnipeg opened its post All-Star break schedule with a back-to-back with Boston (second in the East) and St. Louis (first in the West), and after Friday’s 2-1 defeat used a pair of Jack Roslovic goals to win for the first time since Jan. 14. “That was the result we needed, and hopefully we can carry this momentum into our next two games,” Jets forward Patrik Laine told the media after Sunday’s practice.

TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: FS Tennessee, TSN3

ABOUT THE PREDATORS (24-20-7): Rinne stopped 36-of-38 shots, but is 4-4-0 in his past eight games with a .909 save percentage. Forward Filip Forsberg has recorded a point in three of his past four games, posting two assists against Washington and scoring twice against New Jersey. Defenseman Roman Josi had two assists against New Jersey and one against Washington, and has recorded 25 points (18 assists) and is plus-14 in his past 20 games.

ABOUT THE JETS (26-23-4): Roslovic added an assist Saturday and the two goals give him a career-high 11 this season, with four in his past seven games. Mark Scheifele finished with two assists Saturday, and both the All-Star center (six goals, 10 assists) and forward Kyle Connor (eight goals, eight assists) have registered 16 points in their past 14 games. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 38 shots against St. Louis to snap his three-game losing streak.

OVERTIME

1. The Predators are 3-for-23 on the power play across their past nine games.

2. Winnipeg plays seven of its next eight games at home, where it is 2-7-1 in its previous 10 contests.

3. The road team has won the first two meetings of the season, as the Jets won in Nashville 2-1 on Nov. 19 and the Predators shut out the Jets 1-0 on Jan. 12 in Winnipeg.

PREDICTION: Jets 2, Predators 1