Nashville Predators News

Saros will start Saturday against the Islanders.

Saros will start Saturday after watching Pekka Rinne beat the Rangers on Thursday. The Predators future No.1 netminder has been great in his young career, posting a 2.42 GAA and .923 SV% in his first 48 career games. The 23-year-old is a strong spot-start and DFS option against a thin Islanders team.

Juuse Saros
Stamkos (lower-body) practiced on Monday and is expected to play in Game 1.

Stamkos missed the final three games of the regular season but it was mostly just to ensure he would be ready for the start of the postseason. Stamkos had another good season, picking up 86 points (27G / 59A) in 78 games and will look forward to actually being healthy for the playoffs this season.

Steven Stamkos
Stamkos (lower-body) will miss the final two games of the regular season.

Stamkos will miss his second straight game with a lower-body injury and won’t play on Saturday either. This isn’t surprising as the Lightning obviously want their star centre to be good-to-go for the playoffs. The plan right now is to have Stamkos practice next week ahead of the postseason.

Steven Stamkos
Stamkos (lower-body) will not play on Tuesday.

Even though Tuesday’s game is really important for the Lightning, Stamkos just isn’t quite ready to play after re-aggravating a nagging lower-body injury on Sunday. With Stamkos out, Brayden Point will centre the Lighting’s top line with Nikita Kucherov and J.T. Miller.

Steven Stamkos
Stamkos (lower-body) is questionable for Tuesday.

Stamkos left Sunday’s game against the Predators and did not return. Tomorrow is a crucial game for the Lightning as they play host to their Atlantic Division foe, the Boston Bruins. Monitor Stammer’s status during the Lightning’s morning skate, his availability for that should be directly related to his availability for the game.

Steven Stamkos
Saros led the Predators onto the ice for warmups.

Saros stopped six of seven shots in the Predators loss to the Sabres last night. Saros finished the month at 3-0-2 with a 2.76 GAA and .919 SV% and he starts April with his second start of the year vs. the Lightning—he allowed four goals on 31 shots in a 4-3 OT loss to Tampa Bay in late-January.

Juuse Saros