The Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars, fighting desperately for the fourth playoff spot in the Central Division, faced each other with only four and five games, respectively, left in the season for them after this one. For both teams, multiple models showed this game had the chance to mean more than a forty-point swing in their chances of making the playoffs: 20+% likelier to make with a regulation win, 20+% likelier to miss with a regulation loss. In short: a big deal.
Filip Forsberg and Alexandre Carrier, as well as Brad Richardson, all back from the IR, rejoined the lineup.