2019–20 Nashville Predators season

The 2019–20 Nashville Predators season was the 22nd season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 25, 1997.[1] They entered the season as the two-time defending Central Division champions.

2019–20 Nashville Predators
Division	4th Central
Conference	6th Western
2019–20 record	35–26–8
Home record	17–14–4
Road record	18–12–4
Goals for	215
Goals against	217
Team information
General manager	David Poile
Coach	Peter Laviolette (Oct. 3 – Jan. 6) John Hynes (Jan. 7 – present)
Captain	Roman Josi
Alternate captains	Mattias Ekholm Ryan Ellis Filip Forsberg Ryan Johansen
Arena	Bridgestone Arena
Minor league affiliate(s)	Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) Florida Everblades (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Filip Forsberg (21)
Assists	Roman Josi (49)
Points	Roman Josi (65)
Penalty minutes	Austin Watson (65)
Plus/minus	Roman Josi (+22)
Wins	Pekka Rinne (18)
Goals against average	Juuse Saros (2.70)

The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[2][3] On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled.[4] The Predators advanced to the playoffs, but were defeated in four games by the Arizona Coyotes in the qualifying round.[5]

Standings

Divisional standings

Central Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	St. Louis Blues	71	42	19	10	33	225	193	+32	94
2	Colorado Avalanche	70	42	20	8	37	237	191	+46	92
3	Dallas Stars	69	37	24	8	26	180	177	+3	82
4	Winnipeg Jets	71	37	28	6	30	216	203	+13	80
5	Nashville Predators	69	35	26	8	28	215	217	−2	78
6	Minnesota Wild	69	35	27	7	30	220	220	0	77
7	Chicago Blackhawks	70	32	30	8	23	212	218	−6	72

Source: National Hockey League[6]

Western Conference

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	PCT	Qualification
1	St. Louis Blues	71	42	19	10	33	225	193	+32	.662	Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament[7]
2	Colorado Avalanche	70	42	20	8	37	237	191	+46	.657
3	Vegas Golden Knights	71	39	24	8	30	227	211	+16	.606
4	Dallas Stars	69	37	24	8	26	180	177	+3	.594
5	Edmonton Oilers	71	37	25	9	31	225	217	+8	.585	Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round[7]
6	Nashville Predators	69	35	26	8	28	215	217	−2	.565
7	Vancouver Canucks	69	36	27	6	27	228	217	+11	.565
8	Calgary Flames	70	36	27	7	25	210	215	−5	.564
9	Winnipeg Jets	71	37	28	6	30	216	203	+13	.563
10	Minnesota Wild	69	35	27	7	30	220	220	0	.558
11	Arizona Coyotes	70	33	29	8	26	195	187	+8	.529
12	Chicago Blackhawks	70	32	30	8	23	212	218	−6	.514
13	Anaheim Ducks	71	29	33	9	20	187	226	−39	.472
14	Los Angeles Kings	70	29	35	6	21	178	212	−34	.457
15	San Jose Sharks	70	29	36	5	22	182	226	−44	.450

Source: NHL Western Conference Points percentage

Tiebreaking procedures

1. Fewer number of games played (only used during regular season).
2. Greater number of regulation wins (denoted by RW).
3. Greater amount of wins in regulation and overtime (excluding shootout wins; denoted by ROW).
4. Greater amount of total wins (including shootouts).
5. Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded.
6. Greater goal differential (difference between goals for and goals against).
7. Greater amount of goals scored (denoted by GF).

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 12, 2019.[8]

2019 pre-season game log: 5–1–0 (Home: 4–0–0 ; Road: 1–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1^[A]	September 16	Florida	3–6	Nashville		Ingram	—	1–0–0	Recap
2^[A]	September 16	Florida	0–1	Nashville		Saros	17,200	2–0–0	Recap
3	September 20	Nashville	1–3	Tampa Bay		Saros	13,456	2–1–0	Recap
4	September 21	Tampa Bay	4–5	Nashville	OT	Rinne	—	3–1–0	Recap
5	September 25	Carolina	0–3	Nashville		Rinne	17,159	4–1–0	Recap
6	September 27	Nashville	2–1	Carolina	OT	Saros	11,212	5–1–0	Recap
Notes: ^A Indicates split-squad.

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on June 25, 2019.[9]

2019–20 game log
October: 8–3–2 (Home: 6–1–2 ; Road: 2–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 3 Minnesota 2–5 Nashville Rinne 17,455 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 October 5 Detroit 5–3 Nashville Saros 17,539 1–1–0 2 Recap 3 October 8 San Jose 2–5 Nashville Rinne 17,251 2–1–0 4 Recap 4 October 10 Washington 5–6 Nashville Rinne 17,386 3–1–0 6 Recap 5 October 12 Nashville 4–7 Los Angeles Saros 18,230 3–2–0 6 Recap 6 October 15 Nashville 5–2 Vegas Rinne 18,188 4–2–0 8 Recap 7 October 17 Nashville 2–5 Arizona Saros 13,521 4–3–0 8 Recap 8 October 19 Florida 3–2 Nashville SO Rinne 17,534 4–3–1 9 Recap 9 October 22 Anaheim 1–6 Nashville Rinne 17,424 5–3–1 11 Recap 10 October 24 Minnesota 0–4 Nashville Rinne 17,386 6–3–1 13 Recap 11 October 26 Nashville 3–2 Tampa Bay OT Saros 19,092 7–3–1 15 Recap 12 October 29 Chicago 0–3 Nashville Rinne 17,259 8–3–1 17 Recap 13 October 31 Calgary 6–5 Nashville OT Rinne 17,351 8–3–2 18 Recap
November: 4–7–2 (Home: 1–4–1 ; Road: 3–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 14 November 2 NY Rangers 2–1 Nashville Saros 17,371 8–4–2 18 Recap 15 November 4 Nashville 6–1 Detroit Rinne 18,526 9–4–2 20 Recap 16 November 7 Nashville 4–9 Colorado Rinne 17,492 9–5–2 20 Recap 17 November 9 Nashville 1–2 San Jose SO Saros 17,562 9–5–3 21 Recap 18 November 12 Nashville 3–5 Vancouver Rinne 18,233 9–6–3 21 Recap 19 November 16 Chicago 7–2 Nashville Rinne 17,393 9–7–3 21 Recap 20 November 19 Winnipeg 2–1 Nashville Saros 17,165 9–8–3 21 Recap 21 November 21 Vancouver 6–3 Nashville Rinne 17,168 9–9–3 21 Recap 22 November 23 Nashville 4–2 St. Louis Saros 18,096 10–9–3 23 Recap 23 November 25 St. Louis 2–3 Nashville SO Saros 17,168 11–9–3 25 Recap 24 November 27 Vegas 4–3 Nashville OT Saros 17,326 11–9–4 26 Recap 25 November 29 Nashville 3–0 Carolina Rinne 19,680 12–9–4 28 Recap 26 November 30 Nashville 0–3 Florida Saros 14,285 12–10–4 28 Recap
December: 6–4–2 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 3–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 27 December 3 Tampa Bay 3–2 Nashville OT Rinne 17,163 12–10–5 29 Recap 28 December 7 New Jersey 4–6 Nashville Rinne 17,418 13–10–5 31 Recap 29 December 10 San Jose 1–3 Nashville Saros 17,160 14–10–5 33 Recap 30 December 12 Nashville 3–4 Buffalo Saros 17,211 14–11–5 33 Recap 31 December 14 Dallas 4–1 Nashville Rinne 17,586 14–12–5 33 Recap 32 December 16 Nashville 5–2 NY Rangers Saros 17,286 15–12–5 35 Recap 33 December 17 Nashville 8–3 NY Islanders Rinne 12,114 16–12–5 37 Recap 34 December 19 Nashville 4–5 Ottawa OT Saros 10,407 16–12–6 38 Recap 35 December 21 Nashville 4–3 Boston OT Rinne 17,850 17–12–6 40 Recap 36 December 23 Arizona 2–3 Nashville Rinne 17,697 18–12–6 42 Recap 37 December 27 Pittsburgh 5–2 Nashville Rinne 17,849 18–13–6 42 Recap 38 December 28 Nashville 4–6 Pittsburgh Rinne 18,628 18–14–6 42 Recap
January: 6–5–1 (Home: 1–3–0 ; Road: 5–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 39 January 1 Nashville 2–4 Dallas Rinne 85,630 (outdoors) 18–15–6 42 Recap 40 January 4 Nashville 4–1 Los Angeles Rinne 18,230 19–15–6 44 Recap 41 January 5 Nashville 4–5 Anaheim SO Saros 15,858 19–15–7 45 Recap 42 January 7 Boston 6–2 Nashville Rinne 17,623 19–16–7 45 Recap 43 January 9 Nashville 5–2 Chicago Rinne 21,440 20–16–7 47 Recap 44 January 12 Nashville 1–0 Winnipeg Saros 15,325 21–16–7 49 Recap 45 January 14 Nashville 2–4 Edmonton Rinne 17,029 21–17–7 49 Recap 46 January 16 Anaheim 4–2 Nashville Saros 17,388 21–18–7 49 Recap 47 January 18 Buffalo 1–2 Nashville Rinne 17,729 22–18–7 51 Recap 48 January 27 Toronto 5–2 Nashville Rinne 17,298 22–19–7 51 Recap 49 January 29 Nashville 5–4 Washington Saros 18,573 23–19–7 53 Recap 50 January 30 Nashville 6–5 New Jersey SO Rinne 14,327 24–19–7 55 Recap
February: 8–5–1 (Home: 5–3–0 ; Road: 3–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 51 February 1 Vegas 3–0 Nashville Rinne 17,664 24–20–7 55 Recap 52 February 4 Nashville 2–1 Winnipeg OT Saros 15,325 25–20–7 57 Recap 53 February 6 Nashville 3–2 Calgary Saros 18,512 26–20–7 59 Recap 54 February 8 Nashville 2–3 Edmonton Saros 17,212 26–21–7 59 Recap 55 February 10 Nashville 2–6 Vancouver Rinne 18,871 26–22–7 59 Recap 56 February 13 NY Islanders 0–5 Nashville Saros 17,561 27–22–7 61 Recap 57 February 15 Nashville 4–3 St. Louis Saros 18,096 28–22–7 63 Recap 58 February 16 St. Louis 1–2 Nashville Rinne 17,349 29–22–7 65 Recap 59 February 18 Carolina 4–1 Nashville Saros 17,204 29–23–7 65 Recap 60 February 21 Nashville 1–2 Chicago OT Rinne 21,878 29–23–8 66 Recap 61 February 22 Columbus 3–4 Nashville SO Saros 17,549 30–23–8 68 Recap 62 February 25 Ottawa 2–3 Nashville Saros 17,205 31–23–8 70 Recap 63 February 27 Calgary 3–4 Nashville OT Saros 17,350 32–23–8 72 Recap 64 February 29 Colorado 3–2 Nashville Saros 17,619 32–24–8 72 Recap
March: 3–2–0 (Home: 0–1–0 ; Road: 3–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 65 March 2 Edmonton 8–3 Nashville Rinne 17,316 32–25–8 72 Recap 66 March 3 Nashville 1–3 Minnesota Saros 17,242 32–26–8 72 Recap 67 March 5 Dallas 0–2 Nashville Saros 17,349 33–26–8 74 Recap 68 March 7 Nashville 1–0 Dallas Saros 18,532 34–26–8 76 Recap 69 March 10 Nashville 4–2 Montreal Saros 21,021 35–26–8 78 Recap
Cancelled games # Date Visitor Home 70 March 12 Nashville Toronto 71 March 14 Nashville Columbus 72 March 15 Nashville Minnesota 73 March 19 Colorado Nashville 74 March 21 Philadelphia Nashville 75 March 22 Nashville Chicago 76 March 24 Winnipeg Nashville 77 March 26 Los Angeles Nashville 78 March 28 Nashville Arizona 79 March 29 Nashville Colorado 80 April 1 Montreal Nashville 81 April 2 Nashville Philadelphia 82 April 4 Minnesota Nashville
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

The Predators lost to the Arizona Coyotes in four games in the qualifying round.[10]

2020 Stanley Cup playoffs
Western Conference Qualifying Round vs. (11) Arizona Coyotes: Arizona won 3–1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Series Recap 1 August 2 Arizona 4–3 Nashville Saros 0–1 Recap 2 August 4 Arizona 2–4 Nashville Saros 1–1 Recap 3 August 5 Nashville 1–4 Arizona Saros 1–2 Recap 4 August 7 Nashville 3–4 Arizona OT Saros 1–3 Recap
Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season[11] Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Roman Josi 69 16 49 65 22 41 Filip Forsberg 63 21 27 48 −7 29 Matt Duchene 66 13 29 42 −4 24 Ryan Ellis 49 8 30 38 16 19 Ryan Johansen 68 14 22 36 −5 45 Nick Bonino 67 18 17 35 17 16 Calle Jarnkrok 64 15 19 34 4 14 Mattias Ekholm 68 8 25 33 −1 32 Craig Smith 69 18 13 31 18 34 Rocco Grimaldi 66 10 21 31 10 10 Kyle Turris 62 9 22 31 −9 22 Mikael Granlund 63 17 13 30 −4 28 Viktor Arvidsson 57 15 13 28 −4 26 Colton Sissons 57 9 6 15 −2 20 Austin Watson 53 6 8 14 −9 65 Dante Fabbro 64 5 6 11 −7 38 Colin Blackwell 27 3 7 10 7 10 Dan Hamhuis 60 0 8 8 6 35 Yakov Trenin 21 2 4 6 1 9 Jarred Tinordi 28 1 4 5 −1 34 Yannick Weber 41 1 2 3 −1 14 Matt Irwin^‡ 27 0 2 2 −8 11 Daniel Carr 11 1 0 1 −5 4 Miikka Salomaki^‡ 5 1 0 1 2 4 Mathieu Olivier 8 0 1 1 1 4 Steven Santini 2 0 0 0 1 2 Alexandre Carrier 3 0 0 0 2 2 Korbinian Holzer^† 3 0 0 0 −1 2 Anthony Richard 1 0 0 0 −1 0

Playoffs[12] Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Filip Forsberg 4 3 2 5 1 2 Ryan Johansen 4 1 4 5 1 2 Roman Josi 4 0 4 4 −2 4 Viktor Arvidsson 4 3 0 3 0 2 Ryan Ellis 4 1 2 3 0 2 Matt Duchene 4 1 1 2 −4 2 Nick Bonino 4 1 0 1 −2 2 Calle Jarnkrok 4 1 0 1 0 0 Mattias Ekholm 4 0 1 1 −2 0 Colton Sissons 4 0 1 1 0 0 Rocco Grimaldi 4 0 1 1 −1 2 Mikael Granlund 4 0 1 1 −3 2 Dante Fabbro 4 0 0 0 −1 2 Jarred Tinordi 4 0 0 0 −2 2 Austin Watson 4 0 0 0 0 2 Craig Smith 4 0 0 0 −4 2 Yannick Weber 4 0 0 0 −2 0 Kyle Turris 4 0 0 0 −4 0

Goaltenders

Regular season[13]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Pekka Rinne	36	35	1,987:46	18	14	4	105	3.17	1,004	.895	3	1	2	0
Juuse Saros	40	34	2,176:50	17	12	4	98	2.70	1,142	.914	4	0	0	0

Playoffs[14]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Juuse Saros	4	4	242:09	1	3	13	3.22	124	.895	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Predators. Stats reflect time with the Predators only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Predators only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Draft picks

Below are the Nashville Predators' selections at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, which will be held on June 21 and 22, 2019, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	24	Philip Tomasino	C	Canada	Niagara IceDogs (OHL)
2	45^1	Egor Afanasyev	LW	Russia	Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
3	65	Alexander Campbell	LW	Canada	Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL)
4	109^2	Marc Del Gaizo	D	United States	UMass (Hockey East)
4	117	Semyon Chystyakov	D	Russia	Tolpar Ufa (MHL)
5	148	Ethan Haider	G	United States	Minnesota Magicians (NAHL)
6	179	Isak Walther	RW	Sweden	Södertälje SK J18 (J18 Elit)
7	210	Juuso Parssinen	C	Finland	TPS U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga)

Notes:

1. The Arizona Coyotes' second-round pick went to the Nashville Predators as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent New Jersey's second-round pick in 2019 (34th overall) to Philadelphia in exchange for New Jersey's third-round pick in 2019 (65th overall) and this pick.[15]
2. The Colorado Avalanche's fourth-round pick went to the Nashville Predators as the result of a trade on July 1, 2017, that sent Colin Wilson to Colorado in exchange for this pick.[16]

References

1. National Hockey League (2013). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2014. Diamond Sports Data, Inc. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-894801-26-3.
2. "NHL statement on coronavirus". NHL.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
3. Fernandez, Gabriel (March 12, 2020). "Coronavirus live updates: NHL suspends season; MLB to halt spring training; NCAA conference tourneys canceled". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
4. Gulitti, Tom (May 26, 2020). "NHL plans to return with 24 teams competing for Stanley Cup". NHL.com. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
5. "Coyotes top Predators in OT to win Game 4 of Cup Qualifiers, end series". NHL.com. August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
6. "NHL Hockey Standings". www.nhl.com. National Hockey League.
7. Rosen, Dan (May 26, 2020). "Return to Play: Western Conference". NHL.com. National Hockey League. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
8. "Predators to Play Six-Game 2019 Preseason Schedule". NHL.com. Nashville Predators. June 12, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
9. "NHL releases 2019-20 regular-season schedule". NHL.com. June 25, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
10. "Stanley Cup Qualifiers schedule". NHL.com. NHL.com. July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
11. "2019–20 Regular season – Nashville Predators Stats – Skaters". NHL.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
12. "2019–20 Playoffs – Nashville Predators Stats – Skaters". NHL.com. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
13. "2019–20 Regular season – Nashville Predators Stats – Goalies". NHLcom. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
14. "2019–20 Playoffs – Nashville Predators Stats – Goalies". NHLcom. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
15. "Flyers Select Seven Players at 2019 NHL Draft". NHL.com. June 22, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
16. "Colin Wilson traded by Predators to Avalanche". NHL.com. July 1, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2019.