A familiar face returns to Bridgestone Arena for the first time since he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers back in February.
The first thing he saw when he came back into the arena was the locker room attendant Craig ‘Partner’ Baugh greeting him and giving him a big hug.
A warm welcome back to @BrdgstoneArena for Ek 🤗 pic.twitter.com/YUAW2UOf80
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 17, 2023
Defenseman Mattias Ekholm was dealt for Tyson Barrie, forward prospect Reid Schaefer, and two draft picks. Nashville used one of the picks this summer on defensive prospect Tanner Molendyk.
Barrie also faces his former team for the first time since being traded.
As Ekholm recalled one his biggest moments as a member of the Predators he was quick to mention his favorite goal he was part of was Mike Fisher’s triple-overtime winner in 2016 against the San Jose Sharks in the second round of the playoffs that season.
Before the game, Ekholm said he got into town and had dinner over at Filip Forsberg’s home, and captain Roman Josi was present as well.
“It sunk in a couple of weeks ago and I was like “yea I’m actually going back,'” Ekholm said of the move to Edmonton and playing Nashville early on. “I got the call at 4:30 and you leave the next morning at eight and you don’t really have a chance to think about it more than it’s emotional at the time and a whirlwind.”
Ekholm took a look at the Oiler’s schedule this summer and saw Nashville was one of the first games on the road and then it started to settle in that he was going back to where it all started for the first time.
“It’s going to be special, part of it is to let it be special, it’s one of those of those nights,” he said. “I’m never going to spend 10-plus years in another organization in my hockey career. In that regard, it’s going to be special and I’m trying to embrace it.”
Looking back at when Ekholm was traded he knew for multiple years he was rumored to be on the trade block, but he let it pass by and focused on his play aside from all the buzz.
“I think it was four or five straight years and you never get traded and then it becomes inevitable to stay here,” Ekholm said. “It wasn’t a shock because I knew we weren’t playing to our capabilities and we had traded guys off that week so everything could happen.”
After trying to win in Nashville he’s now focused on what the Oilers have in front of them and trying to get their first win of the season in Nashville in the middle of his return.
Philip Tomasino & Nashville’s Special Teams
Through the first three games of the season forward Philip Tomasino has primarily skated on a line with Tommy Novak and Luke Evangelista. He has one assist and has seen time on the second powerplay unit.
Tomasino felt as if the game in Boston was one of the better games he’s been part of and the line he plays on focuses on trying to handle the puck and create as much as possible.
“I think we’ve been given really good opportunities so far,” Tomasino said of the powerplay. “I think I need to continue to skate and track more as I still get used to the system. The last game was the first game where I started to make some plays and create some opportunities.”
The Oilers are a quicker team in the NHL and for Tomasino, he knows the obvious factors of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are what Nashville needs to contain to stay successful.
“Our forecheck is going to be huge,” Tomasino said. “Not letting them get speed up the ice but also staying out of the penalty box is going to be huge. I need to be good on the forecheck and disrupt a lot of pucks and hopefully, we’ll get some chances once we do that.”
Brunette is leading this powerplay and again he was focused on hammering the execution during the optional skate on Tuesday. He’s still evaluating what he likes about it prior to rolling out the game plan in action.
“I think we just seem a little out of sync,” Brunette said of the powerplay. “I think cohesiveness is such an important factor. I’m not overly familiar with these players. It’s my responsibility to see where they fit. It’s a trial and error process right now.”
According to Brunette, the Predators are doing things they aren’t getting rewarded for, but once his players start believing in the process game-by-game results will start to come. Going rogue is not an option to resort to as the powerplay units continue to figure things out.
News & Notes
Head coach Andrew Brunette said the lineup is set to feature the same players as they had against the Boston Bruins over the weekend.
The Predators said an update on defenseman Luke Schenn is anticipated to be announced before Nashville plays on the road against the New York Rangers on Thursday. Schenn only played in the season opener in Tampa Bay last week.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
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