The inauspicious beginning to the season for the Nashville Predators balanced against hot starts by the Minnesota Wild and Washington Capitals are three of the main discussion points on this episode of the "NHL @TheRink" podcast presented by SKIP.
Predators television analyst Chris Mason, a retired NHL goalie, joins co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke and talks all things Predators, who lost their first five games of the season before defeating the Boston Bruins 4-0 on Tuesday.
Mason discusses the issues that have plagued Nashville early this season, including the tough adjustments Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault have endured being new to the team after spending years in one place: Tampa Bay for Stamkos and Vegas for Marchessault. He breaks down the challenges of playing in coach Andrew Brunette's system that Stamkos and Marchessault are going through and provides his analysis of goalie Juuse Saros' game.
Mason also spoke positively about the Predators. He said the win against the Bruins is a sign that they're ready to turn things around and maybe Stamkos and Marchessault are picking things up and getting more comfortable.
In addition, the co-hosts talk about what has impressed them about the Wild and Capitals so far. They analyze if wins against the Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Seattle Kraken is enough to convince them that the Colorado Avalanche are turning things around and will be fine after a tough start.
They also discuss the Florida Panthers as they prepare to go overseas to play the Dallas Stars in the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal in Tampere on Nov. 1 and 2. Roarke even brings up some food he wants to eat when he's in Finland covering the Global Series for NHL.com.
The "NHL @TheRink" podcast is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.