12:00 PM CT – Predators (25-15-4) @ Islanders (16-20-6)

Players to watch:
NSH- Sergei Kostitsyn
Kostitsyn has seven points in six January games. In that time he has five goals on seven shots.
NYI- P.A. Parenteau
Parenteau is on a four-game point streak and leads the Islanders with 30 assists this year. He is an overlooked part of their dangerous top line.

Starting goaltenders:
NSH- Anders Lindback (2011-12 stats: 2-4-0, 2.75 GAA)
NYI- Evgeni Nabokov (2011-12 stats: 7-11-0, 2.64 GAA)

Injury report:
NSH- Craig Smith (flu, questionable), Jerred Smithson (lower body, out)
NYI- Rick DiPietro (sports hernia, out), Marty Reasoner (thumb, out), Al Montoya and Mike Mottau (concussion, out)

Keys to the game:
NSH- Solid penalty kill… The Islanders’ power play has been hot in the last seven games, going 6-for-19. Meanwhile, the Islanders have the NHL’s worst for/against goal ratio while at even strength. The Preds need to have a solid effort on the penalty kill like they did Saturday against Philadelphia.
NYI- Pressure Lindback… If Lindback gets the start over Pekka Rinne, it will be the Swede’s first (NHL) start since Dec. 20. Lindback, who shut out the Islanders last year, hasn’t been as sharp this season. The Islanders need to get pressure and maintain possession in the Preds’ zone to force Lindback to make key saves.

Numbers to know:
- The Preds are 13-7-3 on the road this season … New York is 16-6-2 on the road.
- The Preds are 5-2-2 against the Eastern Conference this season … New York is 6-4-4 against the West.
- This is the only head-to-head meeting this season. The Preds won the only meeting last year, 5-0, at home.
- All-time, the Preds are 9-3-2 against the Islanders, 3-1-2 on Long Island.
- The Preds are 3-2-0 on the front end of back-to-back’s this season; they will play against the Rangers in Manhattan tomorrow night.
- The Preds are 1-0-0 in matinee contests this season, and are 21-7-7 since the start of 2003-04. This season, the Islanders are 3-1-0 in matinee games.
- Anders Lindback is 1-0-0 with a 0.00 GAA and 1.000 save percentage in 1 career game vs. the Islanders. His likely counterpart, Evgeni Nabokov, is 14-8-(2)-1 with a 2.26 GAA and .911 save percentage in 27 career games vs. Nashville.
- Power play rankings: Nashville (21.6%, 3rd) … New York (19.3%, 7th)
- Penalty kill: Nashville (82.1%, 19th) … New York (83.2%, 10th)

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