Bertuzzi has four points, Red Wings defeat Predators in season opener

NASHVILLE -- Tyler Bertuzzi had two goals and two assists for the Detroit Red Wings in their season opener, a 5-3 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.

Anthony Mantha had a goal and two assists for Detroit, and Jimmy Howard made 39 saves.
"That was a fun game for us," said Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin, who had a goal and an assist. "Everyone battled. Like I've said the entire preseason from the opening interviews, I think we can shock people. We have guys that are warriors, guys that compete hard every night. For our line, we were clicking tonight."
WATCH: [All Red Wings vs. Predators highlights\]
Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg scored, and Mattias Ekholm had a goal and an assist for Nashville. Matt Duchene had two assists for the Predators after he had three in a 5-2 win against the Minnesota Wild in their season opener Thursday.
"I thought they were just quicker than us, a little bit more competitive," Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. "They got some opportunities, and they were able to capitalize. Not the first period we wanted to play."
Luke Glendening gave the Red Wings a 4-3 lead at 9:24 of the third period when his shot on the rush went in off goalie Juuse Saros' mask.
"[Glendening] is just a winner," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "At different times in my time with him, I've tried to not play him as much, and he just always forces me to play him more, whether it was here, whether it was in [Grand Rapids in the American Hockey League] or in the [IIHF World Championships]. He's just a winner. He's a winner of a player."

Ekholm tied the game 3-3 on the rebound of a shot by Kyle Turris at 4:48 of the third, 46 seconds after Larkin gave the Red Wings a 3-2 lead at 4:02.
"Tough loss for us," Ekholm said. "I thought we could've played a little bit better in the first and overall could have matched them a little bit better. They deserved the win tonight."
Larkin scored on a one-timer from the point off a pass from Mantha, who retrieved a dump-in behind the Nashville net and skated it to the top of the left face-off circle.
"He got all of it," Howard said. "I had a perfect angle. As soon as he let it go, all I could see what white net. He got all of it, and he works on it every single day. For us in this room, it's no surprise."
Bertuzzi gave Detroit a 1-0 lead at 10:29 of the first period. Mantha collected a loose puck and passed to Larkin, who set up Bertuzzi for a one-timer from the right circle.
"They're picking up right where they left off last year," Howard said. "That's what we need. We need that line to be going for us and then have guys chipping in like we did tonight."
Mantha gave the Red Wings a 2-0 lead at 11:40 of the first when he skated around three Predators and beat Saros on a backhand shot.

Arvidsson scored on the power play to make it 2-1 at 4:40 of the second, and Forsberg tied it 2-2 at 12:58 on a wrist shot from the left circle.
Bertuzzi scored into an empty net with 1:02 remaining for the 5-3 final.
Detroit forward Andreas Athanasiou missed the game with an undisclosed injury.

They said it

"The Flying Frenchman. He was moving his feet. It was a great goal, one of the best I've seen him score. When he moves his feet like that, he's hard to stop." -- Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin on Anthony Mantha's goal that gave them a 2-0 lead
"If you go back and look at it, a lot of it came from us. We're in the offensive zone and we're chasing down a rush against them, and that's when things broke down. We were in the offensive zone, and they counterpunched a few times, and we weren't able to stop it."-- Predators coach Peter Laviolette on the damage done by the Red Wings' top line of Larkin, Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi

Need to know

The Red Wings have won 10 of their past 11 games against the Predators. … Dante Fabbro scored for Nashville at 12:08 of the first period, but Blashill challenged for goalie interference by Forsberg, and the goal was overturned after video review.… Arvidsson and Forsberg each scored in the first two games of the season.

What's next

Red Wings: Host the Dallas Stars on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-D, FS-SW, NHL.TV)
Predators: Host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)