The Nashville Predators have five days until their first regular season contest against the Dallas Stars. In their home preseason finale, the Carolina Hurricanes came out on top 5-3.
“I didn’t think a lot of our details & some of the things we want to accomplish we didn’t do it tonight,” head coach Andrew Brunette said. “We thought it was going to be easy & like summer hockey. We should know a little better, we know how hard they work. You can talk as much as you want to but it’s a preseason hockey game.”
Nashville has one more preseason game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night. Originally the two were supposed to play on Sept. 27 but the contest was moved due to the effects of Hurricane Helene.
Tanner Molendyk Continues to Impress
The 19-year-old defenseman skated alongside captain Roman Josi for one of his final looks during the preseason. He’s remained on the roster all training camp long with rising prospect Marc Del Gaizo.
Right out of the gates in the first period, Molendyk jumped up on the play & carried the puck up the left wall. He beat defenseman Scott Morrow but he reached back & tripped up Molendyk to draw a penalty.
“He’s such a great skater, I thought he had an opportunity to show his feet off. I’d still like to see him skate a little more,” Brunette said. “But he’s a young kid trying to get comfortable at this level.”
As he continued to play with Josi he jumped back to grab any loose pucks in the defensive corners. Molendyk’s gapping looked promising as he kept Carolina’s attackers to the outside.
In the second period, Molendyk was entrusted to play with Josi during four-on-four play. Carolina caught Nashville off guard on an offensive possession as Bradley Nadeau fired home a one-timer on a pass from Scott Morrow.
As play went on Molendyk continued to find his teammates for passes & holding the blue line on offensive possessions. When Nashville rushed up the ice he wasn’t far behind scanning the play to see where he could make a play.
Molendyk skated alongside Luke Schenn killing a penalty during the second period after Colton Sissons was called for cross-checking. The duo prevailed in their corner battles as Carolina failed to score.
Late in the third period, Molendyk skated with Brady Skjei as the coaching staff continued to see how he fared in the lineup & various situations. With less than three minutes to go, he was even paired with Dante Fabbro.
Philip Tomasino’s Tenacity
After signing his one-year deal on Sept. 18 Philip Tomasino has given it all he has in training camp. He’s been quick to loose pucks & making plays across open ice generating offensive chances primarily with Tommy Novak.
“It was a great entry & Novak had a nice play to me for a tic-tac-toe & it was a nice goal,” Tomasino said. “Both units were moving really well. We may not have gotten all the looks we wanted to but it’s something for us to build on.”
Against Carolina, he drove the net as often as he could. From racing down the left wall to looking for Novak & Steven Stamkos he comfortably looked at home playing in the top half of the lineup.
Tomasino continued to showcase his offensive ability on the powerplay as he assisted on Nashville’s first goal of the night on the powerplay.
Brady Skjei was quarterbacking the special teams unit & saw Tomasino on the right half of the offensive zone. As the pressure shifted Tomasino slid a pass over to Mark Jankowski to bury home the goal.
He continued to make some plays as the third period started with Nashville on the powerplay. Tomasino & Novak were dishing passes to each other trying to generate some shots on goaltender Spencer Martin as he came in for the final frame.
“As the preseason has gone on I feel like we’re getting more into it & feeling more comfortable,” Tomasino said. “The same goes for me, there’s more to build on but we’re itching to get to Monday & get the season going.”
Workhorse Cole Smith
Head coach Andrew Brunette continued to get a healthy dose of forward Cole Smith in his team’s fifth preseason game.
Smith forechecked hard all night against Carolina & it paid dividends during the second period.
Nashville had a strong offensive possession halfway through the second period & Smith buried a loose puck Frederick Andersen left in front of him after a wrist shot from defenseman Dante Fabbro.
Then in a valiant last-ditch effort in the second period, Smith rushed down the ice for a breakaway but was stopped. Smith failed to convert on his own rebound but relentlessly continued to hunt for pucks.
“His motor is amazing & brings it every shift,” Brunette said. “He & Micahel McCarrron were arguably our best players out there tonight.”
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of the Nashville Predators
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