- 1 Pittsburgh Penguins vs Nashville Predators: nine points each after Thursday’s two shutouts
- 2 Pittsburgh Penguins: Karlsson’s 10 assists and a .885 save percentage in goal
- 3 Nashville Predators: a 28.57% power play and 2.56 goals per game
- 4 Free NHL Prediction: Pittsburgh Penguins vs Nashville Predators
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
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- 10 Legal age
- 11 About visuals
Pittsburgh Penguins vs Nashville Predators: nine points each after Thursday’s two shutouts 
Evgeni Malkin has six goals in 11 games, and only one Penguin has matched that total. Nick Robertson also has six, all of his points coming as goals, and the two of them are a large part of why Pittsburgh has scored 36 times this season.
The problem has been the other end. The Penguins have allowed 37 goals and sit at 4-6-1 with nine points, and on Saturday they host a Nashville team with the same nine points from a 3-3-3 record. Puck drop at PPG Paints Arena is 7pm ET.
Both teams were in action on Thursday, and the results went in opposite directions. Pittsburgh beat Florida 4-0, and Nashville lost 6-0 in Boston after failing to score on 28 shots.
That shared schedule means neither team has a rest edge. Both have had Friday off, and both play again early next week: Pittsburgh at home to Utah, Nashville at home to Colorado.
The building is the biggest factor we see. Nashville has lost 11 of its last 12 games at PPG Paints Arena, and the home team has won each of Pittsburgh’s last eight games.
The moneyline has Pittsburgh between 1.70 and 1.80 and Nashville between 2.04 and 2.20, with the total at 6.5. Nine of the last ten meetings between these teams went under that number.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Karlsson’s 10 assists and a .885 save percentage in goal 
Erik Karlsson leads the team with 11 points, 10 of them assists. Malkin has nine points, Tommy Novak eight and Samuel Girard seven, and Sidney Crosby has six points with three goals.
Crosby has scored in four of Pittsburgh’s last five games against Nashville. Rickard Rakell has 21 career assists against the Predators, more than he has against any other opponent.
Kris Letang, Bryan Rust, Declan Carlile, Hendrix Lapierre and Kaedan Korczak all have five points, and the Penguins have converted 12.2% of their 295 shots, which ranks 11th in shot volume across the league.
Goaltending is the reason the record sits below .500. Arturs Silovs is 4-3-0 with a 3.01 goals-against average and a .885 save percentage, and Sergei Murashov is 0-3-1 at 3.50 and .883. As a team, Pittsburgh has stopped 87.8% of the shots it has faced.
Thursday’s shutout of Florida was the best defensive night of the season, and the penalty kill backed it up. Pittsburgh is killing 83.33% of its penalties and hasn’t allowed a shorthanded goal all year.
The warning sign is the betting record. Pittsburgh has been a moneyline favorite twice this season and lost both games.
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Nashville Predators: a 28.57% power play and 2.56 goals per game 
Nashville’s power play is one of the best in the league at 28.57%, eight goals on 28 chances. Everything else on offense has been thin: the Predators average 2.56 goals per game, 26th in the NHL, and they’ve scored 15 at even strength while allowing 23.
Steven Stamkos leads the team with 10 points, four goals and six assists. Roman Josi has nine points, Filip Forsberg eight and Ryan O’Reilly seven, with four goals for O’Reilly.
Adam Edstrom has four goals, as many as Stamkos and O’Reilly. Jonathan Marchessault has three points in nine games, and Forsberg has one goal.
Juuse Saros is 3-2-2 with a 2.82 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage, clearly the better numbers of the two expected starters. Matt Murray has played once, and Justus Annunen allowed six goals on 31 shots in his only start.
Boston on Thursday was the low point. Nashville had one power-play chance and didn’t score on it, took six penalty minutes and finished without a goal on 28 shots.
The Predators have been an underdog seven times this season and won twice. They’re 2-4 when priced at around 2.18 or longer, which is close to Saturday’s number.
Probable lineup Pittsburgh Penguins: Not announced at time of publication (Arturs Silovs expected in goal)
Probable lineup Nashville Predators: Not announced at time of publication (Juuse Saros expected in goal)
Free NHL Prediction: Pittsburgh Penguins vs Nashville Predators
Our prediction: Pittsburgh Penguins to win (moneyline, 1.74)
We’re backing Pittsburgh on home ice. Nashville has lost 11 of its last 12 games at PPG Paints Arena, and the home team has won each of the Penguins’ last eight games, so the venue history points one way.
Saros is the better goaltender, with a .906 save percentage against Silovs’ .885, and Pittsburgh has lost both games it started as a favorite. We still trust 36 goals scored over Nashville’s 23, and the Penguins’ 83.33% penalty kill takes some of the edge off the Predators’ power play.
Malkin and Robertson have six goals each, Crosby has three, and Karlsson has set up 10 goals from the blue line. Against a team that couldn’t score on 28 shots on Thursday, that’s the offense we’d back at 1.74.
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