The penultimate game of the preseason schedule has arrived for the Nashville Predators, and they’ll travel to Greensboro, North Carolina, to take on the Carolina Hurricanes tonight for a 6 p.m. CT start at First Horizon Coliseum.
The Preds have played two exhibition games already this week, beginning with a 2-1 loss in Tampa on Sunday evening before a thrilling comeback on Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena.
Down 2-0 with less than seven minutes to play in regulation, Preds forward Matthew Wood tallied twice late in the third period before prospect Felix Nilsson scored in overtime for a 3-2 victory in entertaining fashion.
Now, the Predators have turned their attention to a home-and-home with the Hurricanes as time continues to tick away on training camp and the preseason.
“We're in an evaluation process,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said following Wednesday’s practice. “We'll see some guys that are fighting for jobs. They should be excited playing against the Stanley Cup champions. We know how they play. It's going to be a real test of a lot of different things for our group. It's a big night for a lot of guys.”
Preds forward Vitali Pinchuk, who was injured during the first day of training camp practice and was day-to-day with an upper-body injury, could see his first game action, which the bench boss also commented on.
"I think it's really important [for him to get into a game],” Brunette said. “You never wish an injury for anybody. It's unfortunate, such a quick camp for us to get our eyes on him, but he'll have a good opportunity. I hope he's ready for it because it's usually always a hurricane against Carolina, where it's going to be all over the place. So, I hope mentally he's ready for it."
A number of Nashville newcomers are expected to make their preseason debuts tonight.
