Nashville Predators: Five Takeaways From the Preseason

3. Scoring From the Third Line

That even sounds funny to write.  Scoring from the third line on the Predators?  Just think about this for a minute: last season our third line at the beginning of the season was somthing like Olli Jokinen on the wing with Jarnkrok at center and Taylor Beck on the other wing. Those three had a TOTAL of 19 goals last season and Jarnkrok is the only one left with the Preds.

David Poile went out and signed Cody Hodgson to anchor the third line and up the scoring.  Coach Laviolette is tinkering with moving Craig Smith and Colin Wilson on one side of the line with Viktor Arvidsson starting on the other wing.  Increased scoring from this line would be a huge boost as it was one of the Predators weaknesses last year.

It may take a little while to figure out the right combinations and gain some chemistry on this line.  Cody Hodgson was nicked up and only able to play two preseason games although he did score a goal in one of them.  There are players we mentioned before that would love to tear it up in Milwaukee and make Nashville find room for them.  These are nice problems to have and could make a big difference this season.

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