Nashville @ Anaheim preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 25, 2018 ) Anaheim 2, Nashville 5

The Nashville Predators are trying to keep pace with Winnipeg in the Central Division but they also are hearing footsteps with third-place St. Louis just four points behind them. The Predators have gone seven straight games without winning in regulation as they play the first of three road games at the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.

Nashville followed a pair of shootout wins over Minnesota with a 5-3 home loss to Carolina to fall to 3-4-0 over the last seven. "I feel like we need to produce more offense, get more zone time, longer shifts in their end," defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. "It's hard for us to play defense all the time, that wears you down." Anaheim made it three wins in four games with an 8-2 beating of Montreal before dropping a 3-2 decision to Freeway Faceoff rival Los Angeles. “We’ve been playing pretty good, but that was a step way back," forward Jakob Silfverberg said. "We got flat-footed against a team that wanted it more."

TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS Tennessee (Nashville), FS West (Anaheim), Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet East/Ontario/Pacific

ABOUT THE PREDATORS (39-26-5): Filip Forsberg, Nashville's second-leading goal scorer who has scored twice and collected two assists in his last 10 games, returned to practice Monday after sitting out Saturday due to an upper-body injury. Mikael Granlund, playing in his fourth game with the Predators since he was acquired from Minnesota, replaced Forsberg on the No. 1 line and notched his first goal with the team. Pekka Rinne has allowed three goals in two decisions versus the Ducks this season to improve to 17-6-6 against them.

ABOUT THE DUCKS (27-34-9): Troy Terry was held off the scoresheet in Sunday's loss but still was named the league's Third Star of the Week, collecting two goals and five assists in the previous three games and becoming the first rookie in franchise history with back-to-back three-point games. Silfverberg scored for the third time during his five-game point streak to leave him one shy of reaching 20 goals for the third time in the past four seasons. Captain Ryan Getzlaf needs one assist to hit 30 for the 13th straight season.

OVERTIME

1. Predators F Viktor Arvidsson, who has a team-high 28 goals, did not practice Monday.

2. Ducks G John Gibson is 3-4-0 with a 3.01 goals-against average versus the Predators.

3. Nashville owns a seven-game point streak (5-0-2) in the series.

PREDICTION: Predators 4, Ducks 2