The Predators had five different goal scorers in Carolina, but Nashville ultimately fell to the Hurricanes by a 6-5 final on Thursday night at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro.
Vitali Pinchuk, Cole O’Hara, Jonathan Marchessault, Adam Edstrom and Jack Drury all tallied on the night, but a 5-1 Nashville lead in the second period eventually gave way to a Carolina victory.
“Well, I liked our first 35 minutes,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought we had a lot of jump. I thought we were pretty connected up the ice, had opportunities to make it a little bit bigger score, got a little cute, and then we just seemed to forget to take care of the puck. Got careless with it, and we're losing our little battles at the blue line continuously through the third period, and gave them a chance to get back in the game.”
“I thought we had a good [start], we really took it to them, and then I think the execution slipped a little bit,” O’Hara said. “Obviously, don't want to see that in the third, but learn from it, and we’ve got to learn to close out those games.”
Pinchuk, who was making his preseason debut after suffering an injury on the first day of training camp, didn’t waste any time making a solid first impression when he shuffled home a loose puck in front to give the Preds a 1-0 lead just 1:48 into the contest.
Less than six minutes later, O’Hara walked down the slot on the power play and sniped home his first of the preseason past Carolina goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov. Then, late in the opening frame, Pinchuk fed Marchessault for a breakaway, and the veteran winger buried a shot to give the visitors a 3-0 advantage after one period.
Carolina got on the board early in the second stanza, but after Edstrom scored in his preseason debut with the Preds, Drury did the same moments after exiting the penalty box by showing off his hands and backhanding a shot into the twine.
The Hurricanes made it a two-goal game before the period was out, and in the third, they scored three more - including the game winner with less than three seconds to play in regulation - to finish off the night.
Now, the Preds will head back home for the preseason finale against the Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena, and they’ll look to end the exhibition slate with a better result after letting one get away in Greensboro.
“We're going to face a better team, and our mindset in the first 35 minutes has to build a little bit here going into the next game,” Brunette said. “We’ll probably have most of our guys playing, so we should be excited.”
Notes:
Marchessault, Drury and Nic Hague served as alternate captains for the Preds on Thursday night.
The Predators will conclude their preseason schedule on Saturday afternoon when they host the Hurricanes for a 2 p.m. CT puck drop at Bridgestone Arena. The preseason finale will be preceded by PredsFest, presented by Ticketmaster, starting at 11 a.m. CT.
Nashville’s final roster is due on Monday at 4 p.m. CT, and the Predators will open the 2026-27 regular season on Oct. 1 when they host Minnesota.
