Sacrifice and grit are what it took for the Nashville Predators to pick up their first win of the 2023-24 season.
Goaltender Juuse Saros made 23 saves en route to his first shutout of the season. It took the Finnish netminder 30 games to get his first shutout last season.
“It’s everything in this game,” head coach Andrew Brunette said of Saros’ play. “Especially for a team that’s growing here a little bit to have a backbone like him back there is very comforting and you never feel panicked when he’s in there.”
Brunette picked up his first win behind the bench for Nashville, his first time being in the building for an opening night since he was last a player for the organization in 1998.
“Well, I thought it was a good response right from the get-go,” Brunette said. “The sacrifice and the will of our group was amazing tonight and it has been all camp, tonight to see it live in action, it was all signs that it’s coming along.”
While it took until the second period for forward Colton Sissons to score the first goal of the game Nashville was sharp from the start and it paid dividends in the long run.
Colton Sissons' 2nd period shorty was the second time the Predators opened play at home with such a goal to begin a season.
The other time was Oct. 13, 2011, by Ryan Suter vs the Coyotes. #Preds
— Nick Kieser🏒 (@KieserNick) October 13, 2023
“We felt really connected, we were playing fast and got a lot of shots on net,” forward Cody Glass said. “We tried to maintain some good shots for [Saros]. We felt like it was a lot of fun to play and that’s how we want to play.”
Glass picked up just over 13 minutes of ice time against the Kraken and played on the top powerplay unit as well. He wasn’t hesitant to mention how he felt about playing in a new system under Brunette.
“I was playing a lot more offense today which is what our system harps on,” Glass said. “We were getting a lot of chances. We were putting in a lot of effort and putting ourselves in good spots and I felt like that was the most fun I’ve played in a while.”
Brunette thought the Predators matched the pace of the Kraken and that the defensemen moved the puck well.
“I’m a little bit hard on what I think is important but I think it looks good,” Brunette said of his team adjusting to a new system. “I think we’re getting there. I thought tonight was a good step in the right direction. We have some work to do on the powerplay but overall it was a great win. The will of our group was pretty impressive.”
Defenseman Ryan McDonagh had an assist on forward Gutsav Nyquist’s first goal as a Predator in the third period. However, McDonagh had three big blocked shots against the Kraken while Nashville was able to block 21 attempts overall.
“There’s some serial winners out there and we’re lucky to have them on the team,” Brunette said. “They know how to close games out, the Sissons, McDonaghs, O’Reillys, and Forsberg doesn’t get the accolades he deserves from the outside looking in.”
Brunette said that the Predators penalty kill was executed as well as it was drawn up by assistant coach Dan Hinote.
“He had a trigger for them when they get a little tired and I thought they played exactly how he drew it up,” Brunette said of Hinote. “To watch McDonagh block shot after shot and O’Reilly, Smith, and Carrier it epitomizes the game If you took one little fragment of the game that’s what the game looked like meaning the will and sacrifice was evident in that sequence.”
At the end of the night, Glass said the Predators need to continue their same pace of play against the Boston Bruins who were the NHL’s best regular season team last year.
Keep an Eye On
-Predators defenseman Luke Schenn did not play against Seattle due to a lower-body injury.
-Forward Tommy Novak had one shift in the third period in the home opener. He was not seen the rest of the night.
That was the second shutout in the Predators’ home-opening game. The first was achieved by @cmace30 on Oct. 4, 2007, vs Colorado.
— Nick Kieser🏒 (@KieserNick) October 13, 2023
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
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