Who: Nashville Predators (5-9-4, 14 points, 8th place Central Division) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (9-5-3, 21 points, 3rd place Metropolitan Division)
Where: Avicii Arena, Stockholm Sweden (NHL Global Series)
When
: 2:00 p.m. eastern (8:00pm local time start)
How to Watch: Broadcast locally Sportsnet Pittsburgh and Fanduel Sports Network South, nationally on NHL Network
Pens’ Path Ahead: The Pens and Preds will reset for another game in the same place on Sunday (9:00am Pittsburgh time start) and then the Pens get a few days off to come home. Eventually they’ll start a three-game homestand that opens with the Minnesota Wild coming to the ‘Burgh a week from today in their first game back.
Opponent Track: Nashville can’t be sweating a change of scenery with the way things have been going; they’re just 2-6-2 in the last 10 (one win over lowly Calgary, the other in a shootout). Overall the Preds are 0-3-2 in their last five games and 1-6-2 in the last nine if you really wanted to frame it poorly.
Season Series: These two games will be the only NSH/PIT ones of the season. The Pens went 2-0-0 last season against the Preds (0-1-1 from the Nashville perspective).
Hidden Stat:
Nashville is just 2-1-2 when leading after two periods for a .400 points% that ranks last in the NHL
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Filip Forsberg – Ryan O’Reilly – Luke Evangelista
Steven Stamkos – Erik Haula – Jonathan Marchessault
Michael Bunting – Fedor Svechkov – Matthew Wood
Tyson Jost – Michael McCarron – Ozzy Wiesblatt
DEFENSEMEN
Brady Skjei / Nick Perbix
Nicolas Hague / Nick Blankenburg
Spencer Stastney / Adam Wilsby
Goalies: Juuse Saros and Justus Annunen
Potential scratches: Joakim Kemell, Justin Barron
Injured Reserve: Roman Josi, Cole Smith, Zachary L’Heureux
Season stats
via hockeydb
Dreadful stuff outside of the penalty kill. The Predators are a stale team and a bad one. They don’t hit expectations on goals for or against, their goaltending isn’t great, their finishing stinks as does the power play. There’s certainly more problems up a level from the coaching but this chart alone points to a prime team for a mid-season coaching change to clear the air and try a new voice, especially since the charts on rate for expected and actual goals are virtually in-line with last season’s poor performance.
If that happens and the Preds can even get back to a mid-tier level offense (which based on the expected goals looks possible) and some added defensive emphasis ends up helping the goaltending start anew, that could be a situation where people rave that a coaching change spurred some positive movement up the standings. However, even at this point the playoffs look unlikely.
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Bryan Rust – Sidney Crosby – Ben Kindel
Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin – Anthony Mantha
Ville Koivunen – Kevin Hayes – Philip Tomasino
Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Joona Koppanen
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea / Kris Letang
Ryan Graves / Matt Dumba
Goalies: Sergei Murashov and Arturs Silovs
Potential Scratches: Danton Heinen, Connor Clifton, Harrison Brunicke, Filip Larsson
IR: Filip Hallander, Tristan Jarry, Justin Brazeau, Jack St. Ivany (lower body), Rutger McGroarty (upper body), Joel Blomqvist (lower body), Rickard Rakell (hand), Caleb Jones (lower body), Noel Acciari
Missing the K of HBK, reuniting two out of the three ain’t bad. Hagelin works these days for the Wild as a scout.
Just two youngsters living the dream, what a league the NHL is.
The Denver Broncos received tough news Friday afternoon.
As NBC Sports noted, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that running back J.K. Dobbins will amiss Sunday’s matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs due to a significant foot injury.
Rapoport added that Dobbins is “believed to be out for the foreseeable future.”
His placement on injured reserve remains a real possibility as the team evaluates its options.
“Dobbins is still working through options, and while there is no final determination, IR remains a possibility,” Rapoport said.
The report came from himself and Tom Pelissero.
The development marks a quick escalation from earlier in the week, when Dobbins missed Wednesday and Thursday’s practices.
At that point, the team had not revealed the full severity of the injury.
Dobbins’ injury stems from a hip-drop tackle last Thursday against the Raiders, a play that left him frustrated enough to take to X and call for the move to be banned.
Dobbins ranks fifth in the NFL with 772 rushing yards and has been a huge part of Denver’s offense so far this season.
While Dobbins has officially been ruled out for Week 11, the next major decision comes quickly.
The Broncos must determine by Saturday afternoon whether to place him on injured reserve.
If he is moved to IR before Sunday, the Chiefs game will count toward a required four-game absence.
Placing Dobbins on IR would sideline him for matchups against the Chiefs, Commanders, Raiders, and Packers.
He would be eligible to return Week 16 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Head coach Sean Payton acknowledged that discussions are ongoing.
“Nothing has been decided yet, and at some point there will be more clarity with him and some of these other players,” Payton said earlier this week.
Denver’s Week 12 bye gives the team a small cushion, but if the injury is significant enough to keep him out multiple weeks, the IR designation becomes more likely.
“With JK Dobbins potentially headed to Injured Reserve, all eyes turn to RJ Harvey,” Rapoport said.
RJ Harvey has already flashed his dynamic potential in limited work.
Payton praised Harvey’s running style, durability, and readiness to step into a larger role:
“When we drafted him, it was his running skillset, and he had a lot of touches at Central Florida,” Payton said.
“You are starting to see him grow in front of our eyes, and he will have more opportunities in this game.”
Tyler Badie will likely mix in as a third down guy, while Jaleel McLaughlin could be active as well.
Sunday’s divisional matchup against the Chiefs carries major playoff implications for both teams and Harvey has a huge opportunity to step up and flourish in the RB1 role.