The Nashville Predators (0-1-0) open their 2023-24 home slate against the Seattle Kraken (0-1-0) Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
Thursday’s Opening Night presented by Regions Bank will feature a pregame Plaza Party with activations for fans to enjoy before the game. Fans are encouraged to arrive early for the Plaza Party presented by Dr Pepper beginning at 3 p.m. CT for family-friendly activities, entertainment and partner activations from Regions, Shell, Dr Pepper, Truly, 102.5 The Game and Bally Sports. Additionally, Bally Sports will broadcast a one-hour pregame show live from the plaza beginning at 6 p.m. CT, and the Predators will be handing out Preds Pride and more information about the 25th Anniversary Season.
The headlining event of the Plaza Party is the Player Gold Walk presented by Regions Bank beginning at 4 p.m. CT on the arena plaza. Preds players will be escorted by kids from the CORE presented by Bridgestone youth hockey program down the Gold carpet on their way into the arena. Fans will have the opportunity to take pictures and grab autographs from their favorite players before heading inside for the game.
Puck drop is at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio. Here's everything you need to know:
LINE ‘EM UP
Below are Nashville’s lines from Tuesday’s game at Tampa Bay:
Forsberg - O’Reilly - Pärssinen
Nyquist - Glass - Sherwood
Tomasino - Novak - Evangelista
Trenin - Sissons - Smith
Josi - Schenn
McDonagh - Carrier
Lauzon - Barrie
Saros
Lankinen
Scratches: Fagemo, McCarron, Fabbro
LAST TIME OUT
The Predators dropped a 5-3 decision to the Lightning in the first game of the 2023-24 NHL season. After falling behind in shots 12-2 following the first period, the Preds outshot the Lightning, 29-22, in the final two frames. Nashville fought back to tie the game on two separate occasions but fell just short.
Filip Forsberg recorded two assists to give him a point in eight consecutive season-opening games, the longest active streak in the NHL. Making his Predators debut, Ryan O’Reilly scored the first goal of Nashville’s season and assisted on Juuso Pärssinen’s goal. Gustav Nyquist, also debuting with Nashville, recorded an assist.
ALL-TIME MEETINGS
The Predators are 2-4-0 all-time against the Kraken, including a 1-2-0 record at Bridgestone Arena. This is the first of three matchups between Nashville and Seattle in 2023-24 and the first and only at home. Nashville went 1-2-0 in three games against Seattle last season, earning a 2-1 shootout win at home on March 23.
NOTABLES VS. SEATTLE
- Forsberg owns a share of Nashville’s career lead in points against the Kraken with five (2g-3a) in four games.
- Tyson Barrie had three points (1g-2a) in two games vs. Seattle last season.
- Jeremy Lauzon was acquired from Seattle for a second-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft (Jani Nyman) on March 20, 2022.
- 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 and scored Nashville’s first-ever goal against Seattle on Oct. 14, 2021.
THE GOOD GUYS
The Captain: Despite missing Nashville’s final 15 games of the 2022-23 season with an upper-body injury, Josi led the Predators in scoring for the fourth straight season with 59 points (18g-41a). He scored 18 goals, tied for the third-most among NHL defensemen, and passed David Legwand for the most points in Predators history during the 2022-23 campaign.
The Netminder: Juuse Saros further cemented himself as one of the NHL’s elite goaltenders in 2022-23, finishing with a 33-23-7 record, .919 save percentage, 2.69 goals-against average and two shutouts. Per MoneyPuck.com, Saros led the NHL in goals saved above expected at 46.7; it was the highest among all NHL goaltenders since the site began tracking the category in 2008-09.
The New Faces: Four players on Nashville’s opening-night roster were not on last season’s team: Samuel Fagemo, O’Reilly, Nyquist and Luke Schenn.
- Fagemo was claimed on waivers from Los Angeles on Oct. 2. He played in nine games for the Kings last season, tallying three points (2g-1a), including his first career NHL goal. His 13 power-play goals in the AHL last season tied for the fifth-most in the league.
- Nyquist signed a two-year, $6.37 million contract with the Predators as a free agent on July 1 after totaling 27 points (11g-16a) in 51 games with Columbus and Minnesota last season.
- O’Reilly signed a four-year, $18 million contract with the Predators as a free agent on July 1. The 32-year-old won the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy with St. Louis in 2019 and has collected numerous other accolades during his 14-year NHL career, including the Selke Trophy (2019), Lady Byng (2014) and three nods to the NHL All-Star Game.
- Schenn signed a three-year, $8.25 million contract with the Predators as a free agent on July 1. A two-time Stanley Cup champion with Tampa Bay (2020-21), his 3,158 hits are the most by a defenseman in NHL history; he led the League in the category last season with 318.
The Rising Stars: Several young players made an impact for the Preds down the stretch in 2022-23:
- Tommy Novak, 26, had 43 points (17g-26a) in 51 games with Nashville last season.
- Luke Evangelista, 21, recorded 15 points (7g-8a) in his first 24 career NHL games.
- Pärssinen, 22, posted 25 points (6g-19a) in 45 games in 2022-23, his rookie season; despite missing 23 games with an upper-body injury from Feb. 26-April 8, he finished 12th among NHL rookies in assists (19) and tied for 16th in points.
- Cody Glass, 24, established career highs in goals (14), assists (21) and points (35) in 2022-23; he recorded 32 points (13g-19a) in his final 56 games.
- Philip Tomasino, 22, had 18 points (5g-13a) in 31 games and was one of seven Nashville players to score at least four power-play goals.
THE OTHER GUYS
The Kraken opened their season with a 4-1 loss to the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday. Jared McCann scored, and Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves for Seattle. Brandon Tanev left the game at 6:02 of the third period after being hit by Vegas’ Brett Howden, who was assessed a match penalty for an illegal check to the head on the play.
WATCH & LISTEN
Coverage for Thursday’s game begins at 6 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on Bally Sports South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley alongside analyst Hal Gill. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and analyst Chris Mason will have the call on the television side.
Max Herz and Jay More will call the game on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network, with pregame, postgame and intermission coverage by Chase McCabe beginning one hour before puck drop. The game will also be broadcast in Spanish on El Jefe which airs on 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM and 810 AM.
