Tuesday, April 1st, 2025 – 6:00 PM Central
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
TV: Fan Duel Sports Network South – Radio: 102.5 WPRT “The Game”
Nashville Predators (27-39-8, 62 points, 7th Central, 14th West)
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Columbus Blue Jackets (33-30-9, 75 points, 5th Metropolitan, 10th East)
The Predators continued their pursuit of Gavin McKenna with a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, extending their losing streak to three games. Now, they’re facing the surprisingly decent Columbus Blue Jackets, despite tragically losing Johnny Gaudreau prior to the season. Powered all season by a top line of Dmitri Voronkov, Sean Monahan, and Kirill Marchenko (I know who one of those guys are!) and surprise fringe Norris candidate Zach Werenski, Columbus is beginning to fall back to earth, only winning twice since March 10th. Depending on the perspective you’re taking, this is either an opportunity for the Preds to rebound and salvage some positives, or to keep embracing the tank.
Player to Watch
Nick Blankenburg
The injury to captain Roman Josi shortly after the 4 Nations break was the nail in the coffin to a miserable season, but it’s led to the emergence of free agent signee Nick Blankenburg. He’s posted six assists since Josi’s injury and has played a tenacious, max-effort game that’s earned him a look on the top pair next to Brady Skjei down the stretch. And would you look at that, Blanks played the previous three seasons in the Blue Jackets organization, splitting time between Columbus and AHL Cleveland. Time for a classic revenge game.
Preds Notes
This is the middle of a three-game road trip for Nashville, concluding Thursday in Dallas. … Jonathan Marchessault is injured day-to-day and did not play in Philadelphia. We’ll see if he plays tonight, or if the Preds roll 11-7 again. … The Predators have dominated the Jackets historically, with a 70-23-1-8 record against their old division rivals.
The Other Bench
Despite going 4-8-1 in March, Columbus is somehow still in a playoff race. They’re two points out but with a game in hand vs Montreal and two over the Rangers. … The Blue Jackets’ last regulation win was March 9th. … Longtime Predator Dante Fabbro was claimed by Columbus off waivers early in the season, but missed the Jackets’ last game against Ottawa. … Another former Pred, enforcer Mathieu Olivier, has *checks notes* 17 goals!? Sure, why not.
Season Series
10/26/2025 – CBJ 3 at NSH 4 (OT)
4/1/2025 – NSH at CBJ
Stats
| Nashville | Columbus | |
| 2.50 (32) | GPG | 3.17 (11) |
| 3.20 (23) | GAPG | 3.35 (27) |
| 21.6% (16) | PP% | 18.7% (24) |
| 81.0% (9) | PK% | 75.3% (25) |
| 50.6% (9) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 48.5% (24) |
| 50.1% (15) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 48.9% (21) |
| 6.7% (32) | 5v5 Shooting % | 10.1% (5) |
| .904 (22) | 5v5 Save % | .907 (21) |
| Filip Forsberg, 28 | G Leader | Kirill Marchenko, 28 |
| Filip Forsberg, 39 | A Leader | Zach Werenski, 52 |
| Filip Forsberg, 67 | P Leader | Zach Werenski, 72 |
| Michael McCarron, 100 | PIM Leader | Matthieu Olivier, 125 |
| 9-23-5 | Home/Road | 21-9-5 |
| 2-7-1 | Last 10 | 3-6-1 |
Projected Lineups
Nashville Predators
| Filip Forsberg | Ryan O’Reilly | Steven Stamkos |
| Michael Bunting | Fedor Svechkov | Luke Evangelista |
| Cole Smith | Michael McCarron | Zachary L’Heureux |
| Jakub Vrana | Kieffer Bellows |
| Brady Skjei | Nick Blankenburg |
| Marc Del Gaizo | Justin Barron |
| Spencer Stastney | Andreas Englund |
| Jordan Oesterle |
| Jusse Saros |
| Justus Annunen |
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Dmitri Voronkov | Sean Monahan | Kirill Marchenko |
| Boone Jenner | Adam Fantilli | Kent Johnson |
| Cole Sillinger | Justin Danforth | Mathieu Olivier |
| Zach Aston-Reese | Sean Kuraly | Luke Kunin |
| Zach Werenski | Dante Fabbro |
| Denton Mateychuk | Ivan Provorov |
| Jake Christiansen | Erik Gudbranson |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
| Daniil Tarasov |