The Nashville Predators are looking for their first win of the season tonight against the Seattle Kraken. Nashville’s lineup is expected to look a little different with Steven Stamkos set to play center on the second line.
Tonight head coach Andrew Brunette wants to see his team effectively penetrate the inside of the offensive zone more. The approach has been evident s0 far but now it’s about following through on chances.
“Right now we’re just on the perimeter in our game & we’re creating. We had a lot of good looks that didn’t go in but I still think we can be a little more dangerous there offensively,” Brunette said.
Morning skate lines for NSH
Forsberg – O’Reilly – Nyquist
Smith – Stamkos – Marchessault
Jankowski – Novak – Evangelista
Pärssinen – Sissons – McCarronJosi – Fabbro
Skjei – Schenn
Lauzon – CarrierExtra – Tomasino
Saros
Wedgewood— Nick Kieser🏒 (@KieserNick) October 15, 2024
The second forward line is getting an ‘engine’ with Cole Smith against the Kraken but through two games that’s all he’s been. Nothing to show for on the scoresheet, however, he’s been relentlessly hounding after pucks.
“I’ve always had to earn it. I’ve never been the most skilled guy out there,” Smith said. “One thing I can always hang my hat on is working as hard as I can. At the end of the day, it’s the hard work that’s gotten me to where I am today.”
The main goal in Smith’s mind, regardless of where he plays, is to be harder on the details & limit swinging too much on plays. The effort was there in Detroit & now the Predators can utilize playing on home ice for a week.
According to Natural Stat Trick Smith has yet to be credited with an individual scoring chance in all strengths. Additionally, Smith has two unblocked shot attempts that did not make it on net two games into the young season.
Forward Juuso Pärssinen is getting his first crack at game action tonight as well. He’s set to play with Colton Sissons & Michael McCarron. Sissons is a familiar face for the 23-year-old after getting settled into the NHL.
“I thought he played a really good preseason game in Carolina & hopefully he can bottle that up & bring it tonight,” Brunette said. “When he’s on his game he’s on pucks, he’s heavy on pucks, He’s reliable on both ends of the ice & he’s really good on the wall. For us, tonight, we’re going to need that from him.”
Pärssinen last played in the postseason for Nashville & signed a one-year contract this summer, on a prove-it deal to showcase his worth to be with the organization long term.
“We just need to execute our gameplan,” Pärssinen said. ” We need to be hard, we need to be energetic, fast & then we need to execute our plays.”
Both McCarron & Sissons will make it easier for Pärssinen to settle into his style of play tonight with both physicality & a veteran presence. All three forwards are more than capable of filling in to win faceoffs on a matchup basis as well.
“They’re really reliable guys & easy guys to play with,” Pärssinen said. “I played with Sissons a lot last year & two years ago I played with him as well. He’s a 200-foot player & he’s so good with the puck.”
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of the Nashville Predators
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