GAME DAY: Opening Night - Preds vs. Wild, Oct. 1

Minnesota Wild (0-0-0) vs. Nashville Predators (0-0-0)

7 p.m. CT | Bridgestone Arena | Buy Tickets

Watch: Scripps Sports/The Spot - Nashville 28; PredsTV App (in-market); ESPN+ (out-of-market)

Listen: 102.5 The Game, Preds Radio Network; El Jefe

Live Stats: GameCenter

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The waiting is over. 

The Nashville Predators begin the 2026-27 season this evening when they host the Minnesota Wild on Opening Night at Bridgestone Arena. 

The 7 p.m. CT puck drop brings a fresh start and a new campaign for a Preds team that underwent plenty of change during the offseason - and now they’re eager to show what they’re capable of from night one. 

“It’s another level, and it’ll be another level Thursday night,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said Tuesday of what to expect from his group. “[Obviously], Carolina came in ready to go [during our final preseason game], and we were dipping our toe in a little bit, and we can't afford that luxury. Just from game to game to the start of the regular season, we’ve got to throttle down here right away. And I think we've prepared ourselves to do that. We're just going to execute that.”

“It’s amazing,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said of Opening Night. “The energy, it’s just great. The players are excited, the fans are excited, everybody's kind of waiting for that first game.”

The Predators return core players like Josi, Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos, Ryan O’Reilly and Juuse Saros this season, plus a number of newcomers like Mavrik Bourque, Jack Drury, Ross Colton, Nils Hoglander, Alex Kerfoot and Adam Edstrom who all figure to be in the lineup on Thursday. 

"I just think it feels like a family,” Colton said of his new club. “I feel like from day one...everyone's made me and my wife feel super welcome. We've done a ton of stuff as a team, which I personally love that. It just makes us feel important and part of this group. I feel like in organizations in the past, we didn't do a lot of stuff as a team. So again, for me, that's super important. It makes me feel comfortable, and it makes me want to go to battle for these guys even more when you feel like you're a tight-knit group like that. So, I've loved it from day one. These guys have been awesome, and I just want to go out there and prove that. I want to be a part of this and keep building something special."

The Predators announced their 23-man roster on Monday with 12 forwards and nine defensemen, and personnel during practices on Tuesday and Wednesday remained unchanged. 

Josi was paired with Ryan Ufko - who is set to play in his first NHL Opening Night - on the backend, while the trio of Forsberg, Hoglander and Matthew Wood remained together after some solid showings in the preseason. 

Stamkos and O’Reilly have skated with Kerfoot, while Bourque, Colton and Jonathan Marchessault have made up another line. Drury centering Edstrom and Reid Schaefer has rounded out the forward group ahead of Opening Night. 

Nashville’s entire roster is healthy to begin the new season.

All-Time Meetings: 

The Preds are 49-29-(5)-13 all-time against the Wild, including a 30-10-(2)-6 mark at home. Nashville is 5-1-4 in its last 10 meetings with Minnesota and 3-1-1 in the last five at Bridgestone Arena. 

Nashville is 15-11-(0)-1 all-time in regular-season openers, including a 16-9-(0)-2 record in home openers. Nashville is 11-5-(0)-1 in regular-season opening games that occur at Bridgestone Arena.

Notables Versus Minnesota: 

Filip Forsberg scored his first career NHL goal on Oct. 8, 2013 vs. Minnesota (Niklas Backstrom). Forsberg tallied his 81st career power-play goal on Jan. 18, 2025 vs. Minnesota, setting a franchise record, passing Shea Weber (80). 

Matthew Wood scored the game-winning goal on April 11, 2026 vs. Minnesota for his 17th goal of the season, surpassing Adam Hall (16 in 2002-03) and Luke Evangelista (16 in 2023-24) for the fourth-most by a rookie in a season for Nashville.

Steven Stamkos became the fourth active player to score 40 or more goals with two different franchises on April 11, 2026 vs. Minnesota. Stamkos also played in his 1,200th NHL game on Dec. 23, 2025 at Minnesota.

Milestone Watch:

Nic Hague is two points from 100 in his NHL career.

Filip Forsberg is two assists from 400 in his NHL career.

Ryan O’Reilly is two points from 900 in his NHL career.

Adam Edstrom is three games from 100 in his NHL career.

Opening Night Festivities: 

The annual Gold Walk returns this season with a chance to meet Preds players and personalities with the Plaza Party beginning at 3 p.m. CT outside Bridgestone Arena. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. CT ahead of tonight’s 7 p.m. start.

Visit the Preds Foundation table outside section 106/107 to purchase exclusive player signed Home Opener mystery pucks, a Limited-Edition Hatch Show Print Poster, and bid on the game night auction. To place a bid or check out the items up for auction text "PREDS" to 76278. The auction closes at the start of the 3rd period.

Watch & Listen: 

New this season, Preds fans can watch all locally broadcast Predators games on The Spot – Nashville 28 (WNPX) over the air with an antenna or on cable and satellite distributors serving the Predators territory.

Predators fans within the team’s TV viewing area can also stream 81 locally broadcast games, including Thursday’s home opener against Minnesota, for just $74 – less than $1 per game.

Nashville’s games will be streamed on the Nashville Predators App, which is available on the following devices:

• iOS/Android

• Amazon Fire TV

• Android TV

• Apple TV

• Roku

• Web via PredsTV.com

The season pass also includes access to on-demand game replays and exclusive content, such as “Inside Smashville,” a weekly magazine show that launches Friday, Oct. 2 on The Spot – Nashville 28 and Predators streaming platforms.

In addition to 81 of the team’s regular-season games being available on The Spot – Nashville 28 and via the Nashville Predators App stream, the remaining three contests will be exclusively broadcast on ESPN+.

Click here for more information on streaming and viewing options.

Fans may also listen to Opening Night on ESPN 102.5 The Game, the Preds Radio Network and El Jefe Radio.