After closing out 2025 with a victory in Vegas, the Nashville Predators will begin the new year tonight in Seattle when they face the Kraken from Climate Pledge Arena at 9 p.m. CT. Tonight’s contest is the first of three meetings between the Preds and Kraken this season; they’ll face off twice in March.
The Predators began their six-game trip with a loss in St. Louis, but they’ve since collected wins in Utah and Vegas, including a 4-2 triumph yesterday afternoon over the Golden Knights – a game that saw Steven Stamkos record his 600th NHL goal.
Now, after banking 10 wins in the month of December, the Preds will look to start 2026 with another win, this time against a Seattle team with points in five straight.
“We’re growing, we’re building…it’s taken a while for us to get going, but I think we’re starting to grow,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said following yesterday’s win in Vegas. “We’re starting to learn every day. We’re starting to get better. I thought our defensive zone coverage was much better. So, we’re a work in progress. We’re not a perfect team, nor do I want to be a perfect team. I think we’ve got an extremely close, tight group, and we’re getting tighter every game. And you get wins like this, they’re just going to build that tightness.”
Nashville’s lineup remained unchanged on New Year’s Eve with Jonathan Marchessault remaining out with a lower-body injury. Defenseman Justin Barron was a healthy scratch against Vegas.
The Good Guys:
In addition to a milestone tally from Stamkos, Nick Perbix, Reid Schaefer and Michael Bunting all tallied for Nashville, while Justus Annunen got the win in net. Stamkos became just the 22nd player in NHL history to reach the 600-goal plateau, and Erik Haula added his 200th career assist.
Ryan O’Reilly (11g-23a) continues to lead the Preds with 34 points, followed by Filip Forsberg (16g-15a) with 31 points and Luke Evangelista with 23 assists and 29 points. Stamkos leads the team with 18 goals; Bunting now has 10 tallies. Juuse Saros is 15-12-3 in net; Annunen is 3-5-1.
The Opposition:
Seattle had won four-straight games before a shootout loss to Vancouver on Monday. Jordan Eberle leads the Kraken with 14 goals and 25 points; former Preds winger Eeli Tolvanen (7g-18a) also has 25 points. Chandler Stephenson has 10 goals and 24 points on the season. Joey Daccord is 10-9-5 in net; Philipp Grubauer is 6-3-1.
All-Time Meetings:
The Preds are 5-7-0 all-time against the Kraken, including a 2-4-0 mark on the road.
Bridgestone Arena hosted the Kraken in the franchise’s first-ever NHL game on Oct. 14, 2021, a 4-3 loss for the Predators. Seattle is the fifth franchise to join the NHL after Nashville’s inaugural season (1998-99), along with Atlanta/Winnipeg, Minnesota, Columbus, Vegas and Utah.
Notables Versus Seattle:
Seattle forward Eeli Tolvanen played 135 games for Nashville from 2018-22, tallying 51 points (25g-26a). He was selected by Nashville in the first round (30th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft. Tolvanen scored Nashville’s first-ever goal against Seattle on Oct. 14, 2021.
Milestone Watch:
Steven Stamkos scored his 600th career NHL goal on Dec. 31 at Vegas.
Erik Haula recorded his 200th career NHL assist on Dec. 31 at Vegas. He is two games from 800 in his NHL career.
The Predators are two games from 2,100 as a franchise.
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for tonight’s contest begins at 8:30 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.
