The Nashville Predators played their first home game of 2023-24 at Bridgestone Arena against the Seattle Kraken. Both teams were looking for their first win of the season after Nashville dropped a 5-3 game against Tampa Bay and Seattle lost to the reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights 4-1 in their first outings.
Andrew Brunette made a few adjustments to the lineup tonight especially with the defense as Luke Schenn was listed as day-to-day with a lower body injury.
Former Nashville Predator Eeli Tovanen started for the Seattle Kraken on a line with Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand. Brandon Tanev did not play after a hard hit by Brett Howden in the Kraken's opening game, Tye Kartye made his NHL debut, and Philipp Grubauer got the start in net for Seattle.
First Period
The Predators came out with a much better start than they had against the Lightning on Tuesday matching Seattle's speed up and down the ice. The teams played two minutes of four on four early in the first period as Filip Forsberg and Will Borgen headed to their respective penalty boxes for simultaneous infractions. Neither team could capitalize on the extra space, and the teams returned to five a side. It remained a very balanced game as the teams' exchanged chances, but both Saros and Grubauer made saves when they were under pressure.
With just :23 seconds left in the opening period, Brian Dumoulin took a seat in the penalty box for a slash. The Predators headed into the first intermission leading 15-12 in shots on goal, a majority of the power play time remaining, but a 0-0 score.
Second Period
The Predators started the second period on the man advantage, and just :07 seconds in, it became a five on three as Jamie Oleksiak joined Dumoulin in the penalty box for delay of game. Nashville wasn't able to capitalize on the opportunity.
It was a special teams goal that got the Predators on the board midway through the period. As Cody Glass sat for two minutes for a slash, Cole Smith led Colton Sissons with a pass to give Sissons a shorthanded goal and the Predators the first goal of the game at 10:24.
The Predators got one more chance on the power play at 12:05 when Vince Dunn headed to the box for a cross check, but again Nashville failed to convert. The teams headed into second intermission with Nashville up by a score of 1-0.
Third Period
The Kraken came out in the third period and controlled the puck early. A high sticking penalty committed by Colton Sissons at 4:24 gave Seattle more momentum. Nashville was pinned in the defensive zone, but a solid penalty kill including three blocked shots by Ryan McDonagh kept the Kraken off the board.
A delayed penalty gave Nashville their chance with the extra attacker. Gustav Nyquist scored his first goal as a Predator at 10:03 shooting the puck off the skate of Adam Larsson and past Grubauer to give Nashville a 2-0 lead.
With less than four minutes to go, Grubauer deserted the net and the Kraken brought on the extra attacker. Just a minute later Juuso Pärssinen found the empty net to give Nashville the 3-0 win and Juuse Saros his first shutout of the 2023-24 season.
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