Nashville Predators: Predators search for first win in home opener
The Nashville Predators have looked disappointing in their first two games. They will be looking to turn those performances around tonight at Bridgestone.
The Nashville Predators began the regular season with two games on the road. They were disappointing performances, to say the least. The result being two losses that the Predators didn’t have a chance in. They look to turn that around as they take on the Philadelphia Flyers. This game will be the home opener, and a chance to show off their Western Conference Champions banner.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are 2-1-0 on the season, and are coming off a three to two overtime win in Anaheim. The Flyers have looked decent to start the season off as they beat the Sharks in San Jose, five to three. They then suffered a loss to the Los Angeles Kings, two to zero, before heading to Anaheim. The Flyers started the season with a road trip along the west coast, then head to Nashville, before their home opener against the Washington Capitals this Saturday.
The Predators have to watch out for the Wayne Simmonds of the Flyers. He’s been on fire to start off the season. Simmonds was awarded the 3rd Star of the Week for his performance in the Flyers three games. He began the season off hot as he had a hat-trick in San Jose, and also scored the game-winning overtime goal against Anaheim.
Brian Elliot has also been impressive in goal for the Flyers. Elliot has two wins and has stopped 53 out of 58 shots on the year, for a .914 save percentage.
Lineup Changes
To find a beat, it looks like Laviolette will change around the lines heading into the Flyers game.
Arvidsson-Johansen-Smith
— Adam Vingan (@AdamVingan) October 9, 2017
Forsberg-Jarnkrok-Fiala
Hartnell-Bonino-Aberg
McLeod-Watson-Salomaki
No Sissons, who left Saturday's game early.
Colton Sissons didn’t practice on Monday, though Kevin Fiala, who was listed as day-to-day, was involved in the morning skate. So it looks like he will return to the lineup for the home opener. Sissons will be a scratch.
One very noticeable adjustment in the lineup is that the JOFA line was broken up. The Predators have been searching for some offense to start the season off, so maybe breaking up the JOFA line can help solve that problem.
Don't see Roman Josi out there.
— Brooks Bratten 🍪 (@brooksbratten) October 9, 2017
Ekholm, Bitetto, Girard rotating together. Subban with Emelin, Irwin with Weber. #Preds https://t.co/5dC4csAuwq
Another noticeable thing at the Predators practice was that captain Roman Josi wasn’t on the ice. It is now known that he is scratched from tonight’s line-up.
What to Expect
This game will show what the Nashville Predators really are. Maybe the Predators will come out and look like a totally different team. It’ll be interesting to see how the lines change in this game. I expect the Predators to hopefully come out with a sense of urgency, due to the home crowd on their side. The Predators have seemingly lacked a sense of urgency over the last two games, but I think some “home cooking” is exactly what they need.
If the Predators come out and struggle, I would expect to see some worry coming from Predators fans.
Follow the Game
Fox Sports TN will televise the game starting around 6:30pm. The puck drops around 7:00 PM Central/ 8:00 PM Eastern. You can find it on the radio at 102.5 The Game. Radio coverage starts at 6pm. Tickets are still available on a few websites, so treat yourself to some exciting Nashville Predators hockey!