O'Reilly, Saros Lead Preds to Opening Night Victory Against Blue Jackets

Opening Night turned out just fine in Nashville.

Michael Bunting and Ryan O’Reilly found the back of the net as the Predators defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets by a 2-1 final on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena. The result gives the Preds a victory in their first outing of the season, a result that didn’t come until game No. 6 last year.

But the Predators, determined to get off to a better start this time around, found two points less than three hours into the new campaign.

“It's a good feeling,” O’Reilly said. “It wasn't pretty at times out there. They had some momentum, and we got caught on our heels, but still, to find a way to win, to kind of stay with it… It's so important to establish that right away and get that first win. It's definitely a great game to build on. A lot of things to clean up and be a lot better in areas. But still, a win is a win and it's something to feel good about.”

Nashville netminder Juuse Saros was excellent in the triumph, stopping all but one of the 38 shots he faced in a classic performance that gave the Preds more than a chance.

“Oh, it's huge,” Forsberg said of Saros’ effort. “Obviously, he's the backbone of our team. And then for two periods, we relied on him a lot, too, a lot more than we…want to on a regular basis. But that's why he's here. That's why he's ours and not someone else's. He's one of the best, if not the best.”

Bunting got the Preds on the board first when he blasted a shot from the right circle past Columbus goaltender Jet Greaves and into the twine for Nashville’s opening goal of the season.

The Blue Jackets evened the score before the first period was out with a goal from Dmitri Voronkov, and it appeared they had taken the lead late in the second stanza when Mathieu Olivier put home a rebound in front. However, the Predators were successful upon challenging for goaltender interference to keep the score deadlocked at 1-1 through 40 minutes of play.

Then, early in the final frame, O’Reilly took a feed from Forsberg down low, and the veteran forward stickhandled at the top of the crease before neatly placing a backhand shot under the bar in an impressive effort to give Nashville the lead once more.

“I mean, we see it in practice every day,” Forsberg said of O’Reilly’s effort. “It’s world class, but we've gotten used to it, so it's almost expected at this point. But no, it was an unbelievable goal.”

That was the last tally the Preds needed, too - as the final frame turned out to be Nashville’s best with waves of pressure at the Columbus net and consistent saves from Saros down the stretch to seal the victory.

“You could see how we were tough to play against that third period,” O’Reilly said. “We were everywhere. You could see it was starting to come and…it's going to take a little time to find that, but when you do, you can see we're hard to play against. That’s one of the foundations we have to have is being that, especially in this building, too, with how electric it is. We want to make it a tough place to play.”

Brady Martin, the fifth overall pick in the 2025 Draft, made his NHL debut with the Preds in the opener, and the 18-year-old received positive reviews from his linemates on the night.

“I can barely remember…my first game, but just the anticipation of playing your first game, family and friends, there's a lot to handle, and I thought he handled it really well,” Forsberg said of Martin. “[There were] certain things that I thought he did great, certain things that I'm sure he'd like to do again, but, I mean, he's 18 years old, playing his first game. It's a pretty special day.”

“I thought he did a great job,” O’Reilly said. “He’s a worker and he's a competitor out there. He plays big games, heavy, makes great plays, and it was great, first and foremost - fun to watch.”

Martin himself continued to take everything in, and while he admitted he might need to “hit the gym” after realizing the strength of the grown men he was facing Thursday, this was ultimately a night he’ll never forget.

“It was really cool,” Martin, who had upwards of 30 friends and family in attendance, said. “It was pretty electric in the building tonight. So, to get the first one under my belt, and hopefully many more to come, is a lot of fun.”

From here, the Preds will now turn their attention to a meeting with the Utah Mammoth on Saturday night, and while their first effort of the season wasn’t perfect, it was more than enough to secure two points - especially in front of their home fans.

“Columbus is a really good team,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “They're fast, they're big. I thought we were a little nervous. We had a lot of guys, that was their first Opening Night in a Predator jersey, whether they're young kids or guys that just came in the lineup… I thought we settled down in the third. I thought it was by far our best period. [Juuse Saros] was outstanding and gave us a chance to win the game. But I'm really proud of the group. It wasn't the smoothest water all the time, but we hung in there and it’s something to build on.”

Notes:

Brady Martin (18 years, 207 days) became the second youngest player ever to skate for the Predators, behind Scott Hartnell (18 years, 171 days on Oct. 6, 2000). Martin, the No. 5 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, also is the third Predators draftee to skate in the team’s season opener immediately following his draft (after Hartnell in 2000-01 and Seth Jones in 2013-14).

With his assist on Ryan O'Reilly's goal, Filip Forsberg has now recorded a point in 10 consecutive season-opening games dating back to 2016-17. He's just the 5th player in NHL history to accomplish the feat, following Vincent Lecavalier (11 GP from 2002-03 – 2013-14), Viktor Kozlov (11 GP from 1997-98 – 2008-09), Jaromir Jagr (10 GP from 1997-98 – 2007-08) and Sergei Zubov (10 GP from 1995-96 – 2005-06).

Forward Tyson Jost and defenseman Nick Perbix both make their Predators debuts in Thursday’s opener.

Forward Ozzy Wiesblatt and defenseman Nick Blankenburg were scratched for Nashville.

With the 2025-26 season now underway, the Preds will host the Utah Mammoth on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena before embarking on a four-game Canadian road trip next week.