The first night of action in Bridgestone Arena for the 2023-24 season is here. Nashville gets play at home started against the Seattle Kraken who enter their third season in the NHL.
Before coming home the Predators fell 5-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning after having six penalties and two powerplay goals against.
“Credit to Tampa, they know how to play hockey and they were in our face right away,” head coach Andrew Brunette said after morning skate. “They dictated the pace and we got on our heels a little but and didn’t really get a chance to recover.”
Once Nashville made it through their flat start the following 40 minutes featured what Brunette wanted to see from his group and an up-tempo pace trying to force the pressure back.
Last time out the Predators scratched forwards Samuel Fagemo and Michael McCarron along with defenseman Dante Fabbro. It appears as if the Predators are still trying to get a feel of what a consistent lineup looks like.
“We have a couple of decisions to make on the back end so we’ll see how that works out,” Brunette said. “Fabbro or Schenn so we’ll play it by it goes.”
On the penalty kill in Tampa Bay Brunette and his staff had Schenn playing with defenseman Jeremy Lauzon on and then Tyson Barrie during even-strength play. Fabbro could draw in as a fit with either Lauzon or Barrie in the home opener.
“I really like their second kill in the second period,” Brunette said of the penalty kill on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, we put ourselves in a position to kill too many of them, the less you kill the higher success you have.”
Alex Carrier
Coming into the home opener the Predators have one of their consistent defensemen healthy and back in the lineup after missing half of last year. Alex Carrier is focused on staying healthy this season after breaking some bones and healing over the offseason.
“Being smarter and protecting myself a bit more, sometimes I get hit a lot,” Carrier said. “It’s part of my game but sometimes you have to be a bit smarter.”
On Tuesday he played with veteran Ryan McDonagh on defense and with him on the penalty kill as well. A spot Carrier is familiar with and hopes he continues to have as a strength this season.
“That was a great test to start the season,” Carrier said of the penalty kill. “They knew their spots, McDonagh knows their spots too but I think we did a decent job, to be honest. They had lots of opportunities in a row in the third period.”
As the penalty kill unit gets exhausted Carrier said it’s about scrambling on the puck and trying to protect it as players feel broken down from trying to keep the opposition from scoring.
“We want to make sure the penalty kill is the best in the league and when you have goalies like Saros and Lankinen then there’s no easy to not be on top. We take pride in our PK and blocking shots is part of it,” Carrier said.
The French-Canadian defenseman wants to take this season one game at a time. Carrier wants to be the player Nashville needs him to be with new faces watching him now like Brunette and general manager Barry Trotz.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
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