A two-game trip surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday begins tonight for the Nashville Predators as they meet the Detroit Red Wings for a 6 p.m. CT puck drop at Little Caesars Arena. This evening’s contest is the first of two outings between the former division rivals this season; the Preds will host the Wings in March.

Nashville will be looking to get back into the win column tonight after dropping a pair of games upon their return from Sweden last week, including an 8-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Monday that left the Preds disappointed with their effort.

“Just a horrible game,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said of Monday’s outing. “Right from the first period, we just played poorly. I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. We have a good effort against Colorado [on Saturday] and we come back with that. I wish I knew why, but it’s not acceptable. We can’t play like that and think we can win.”

The Predators practiced on Tuesday before departing for Detroit. Nashville’s lineup has remained unchanged the past two games with defensemen Justin Barron and Adam Wilsby serving as healthy scratches.

The Good Guys:

Filip Forsberg, Fedor Svechkov and Nick Blankenburg all tallied for the Preds on Monday, while Juuse Saros took the loss in net. Svechkov’s goal was his first of the season, and Blankenburg’s strike came on the power play.

Forsberg leads the team with nine goals and 16 points, followed by Ryan O’Reilly with six tallies and 13 points. Michael Bunting (4g-7a), Erik Haula (3g-8a) and Luke Evangelista (2g-9a) have 11 points each. Saros is 6-9-3 in net; Justus Annunen, who came on in relief for Saros on Monday, is 0-3-1.

The Opposition:

Detroit has alternated wins and losses in their last four outings, including a 4-3 defeat in New Jersey on Monday night. Dylan Larkin leads the Wings with 13 goals and 25 points, while Alex DeBrincat has 11 goals and 25 points as well. Cam Talbot is 9-3-0 in net; John Gibson is 4-6-1.

All-Time Meetings:

The Preds are 46-54-(4)-11 all-time against the Wings, including a 19-29-(2)-8 mark in Detroit. Nashville is 6-3-1 in their last 10 vs. the Red Wings and 2-2-1 in their last five at Little Caesars Arena. The Predators are 9-5-1 in their last 15 games against the Red Wings, including six wins in a row from Feb. 23, 2021-Jan. 22, 2022, the franchise’s longest-ever win streak vs. Detroit.


Notables Versus Detroit:

Steven Stamkos has tallied the second-most goals against the Red Wings of any active skater in the NHL with 24 (Alex Ovechkin – 25). He has scored a pair of goals against Detroit in four separate games and tallied three points in three different games against the Red Wings.

Jonathan Marchessault recorded a hat trick against the Red Wings on March 9, 2024. His 11 career goals against Detroit are tied for the second-most he has scored against any NHL team.


Roman Josi has 28 points (3g-25a) in 40 career games vs. the Red Wings; Filip Forsberg has posted 22 points (10g-12a) in 25 career meetings with Detroit.


Michael McCarron is a Grosse Pointe, Mich., native and played for the Honeybaked AAA program and USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program.

Milestone Watch:

Michael Bunting is one goal from 100 in his NHL career.

Ryan O’Reilly is three power play goals from 100 in his career.

Filip Forsberg is three points from 700 in his NHL career.

Luke Evangelista is three points from 100 in his NHL career.

Watch & Listen:

Coverage for this evening’s contest begins at 5:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on FanDuel Sports Network South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and Chris Mason will have the call on the television side. Max Herz and Hal Gill will call the game on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network.