The Nashville Predators earned their first win of the 2023 preseason with a 5-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
The Hurricanes took a 1-0 lead with a Ryan Suzuki goal at 3:37, but the Preds got a quick response less than a minute later as Ryan O’Reilly tipped in a Jeremy Lauzon point shot to tie the score at 1-1.
On the Preds first power play of the night, O’Reilly received a pass from Tommy Novak and connected with Filip Forsberg, who fired a shot from the face-off circle past Carolina goalie Anttii Raanta to give Nashville the 2-1 lead at 8:49.
The Preds extended their lead in the final minutes of the first frame, when Roman Josi capitalized in transition with a beautiful pass to Kiefer Sherwood, who buried a shot to put Nashville up 3-1 heading into the first intermission.
Gustav Nyquist scored on a 4-on-3 power play at 13:22 of the second period, cleaning up the rebound on another impressive Josi shot. Samuel Fagemo followed up with a goal of his own in the final minute of the middle frame, chipping in a pass from Forsberg for the 5-1 final.
ROSTER REPORT
Of the 26 players attending Preds training camp, 20 dressed to play on Thursday. The roster for the game can be found here.
PREDS STANDOUTS
- Golden Firsts: O’Reilly, Nyquist and Fagemo each scored their first preseason goals as members of the Predators. Thursday was Fagemo’s first preseason contest with the Preds, after Nashville claimed him on waivers from the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.
- O’Reilly x4: O’Reilly recorded a team-high four points (1g-3a), adding assists on the goals from Forsberg, Sherwood and Fagemo.
- Team Effort: Ten different Preds players found the scoresheet in Thursday’s contest.
- Perfect on the PK: The Preds successfully killed all five of their penalties on the night.
THEY SAID IT
Fagemo on playing his first preseason game as a member of the Predators:
“I’m super excited to be here. I’m just thankful for this opportunity. It's such a great experience. The fans here were so awesome, and it's only a preseason game.”
Fagemo on creating chemistry with his new teammates:
“I think we kept on doing the right things and shooting pucks… and I got some good passes as well. I think my other teammates talked a lot to me and helped me a lot out there. So I'm really thankful for that.”
Sherwood on the win:
“I definitely think tonight was a step in the right direction. We wanted to… get a win for our fans because their support means a lot to us. I think the biggest thing is the process right now; it’s obviously preseason, so we're not worrying too much about the results. But we needed to win tonight, and I think the way we did it was good… it's all of us together. We help the D, and the D help the forwards. It’s fun hockey to play because we're playing fast and we're just wearing teams down. You saw that momentum turned on after the first period once we sharpened up on some of the details.”
O’Reilly on creating scoring chances:
“I have to be an instinctual player at whatever time of the game and to just try to do the right thing at that time. With the system too, it's making the right reads defensively to help create offense and such. A lot of us trust the instincts to get more comfortable with the system.”
O’Reilly on Nashville’s biggest areas of improvement throughout training camp:
“I think in the trust. You can see when, as a group, we're connecting and trusting each other when there's pressure on the ice. There's support, and you create from that. I think you know in the first few preseason games, we're unsure of certain things but you can tell we're getting more comfortable. Guys can trust each other and know where they're going to be. That's where the connection comes from.”
Head Coach Andrew Brunette on Nashville’s performance:
“I think we started off a little sleepy, and then I thought we got going. I really liked our second and third period… That's been too many games in a row that we've come out a little bit flat. It's kind of unacceptable. But I thought as the game went on, we had a little bit more of a relentless mindset. We were on the pucks a lot more than we were early in the game.”
Brunette on the team creating chemistry:
“I think we're getting there. Sometimes it takes a night like this where the team's going to make them work hard… It’s been a hard lesson to learn. We really have to work a lot harder away from the puck if we want this to work. It's demanding, and it's uncomfortable at different times. But I think hopefully, when we keep preaching and we keep talking about it, you get a period like the second period where we have the puck a lot more and you understand why we're asking you to do that. People have been uncomfortable, and we have to be more comfortable being in an uncomfortable space. Obviously, the preseason is all about the process.”
UP NEXT
The Predators and Hurricanes will wrap up their home-and-home exhibition series Friday at PNC Arena. The puck drops at 6 p.m. CT, and the game will be streamed on NashvillePredators.com and broadcast on 102.5 The Game.
