The Nashville Predators will finally get a chance to raise the Western Conference Champions banner in front of the home crowd.
On Tuesday night, they will take on the Philadelphia Flyers in its first home game of the season.On Thursday night, the face-off against Central Division opponent, Dallas Stars. On Saturday night, they will travel to Chicago and the United Center to take on the Blackhawks in another pivotal Central Division matchup.
The Preds will want to use the raucous crowd to its advantage and get off to a flying start without getting too caught up in the hype of the night. Nashville is going to need all four line to have some sustained pressure in offensive zone. Scott Hartnell faces his former team tonight and could be a big factor on the power play for Nashville. The Predators will need to get the first goal and keep building off of that. Nashville is going to need to stay out of the penalty box and do a good job of defending all four Flyers lines.
The Flyers are going to need to get off to a fast start in Nashville and take the crowd out of the game. The Orange and Black will want to get the first goal since the Predators haven't won a game when the opposition scores first. Philly is catching a break since the Preds best defenseman, Roman Josi could miss the game due to an injury. The Flyers will want to get in on the forecheck, win board battles and get shots on the net. The Orange and Black are going to need to want to crash the net and get plenty of traffic in the crease to take eyes off the puck.
Nashville will face a struggling Stars team on Thursday night. The Preds need to take advantage of the Stars struggles to start the season. Nashville needs to pressure the puck carrier and force some turnovers especially the way the Stars have been playing in their own zone. The Predators need to get some shots on goal and make the Stars work for their offensive zone time. Nashville needs to be good through the neutral zone and limits its own turnovers since the Stars are comfortable playing a pond hockey style game.
The Stars are off to a slow start with Ben Bishop having to leave the first game of the year, and Kari Lehtonen having to take his place. The Stars need to establish a good forecheck and get some attack time in the offensive zone. Dallas needs to stop standing around watching the plays develop in its own end and get its feet moving to stop those plays from happening. It would help the Stars if they could manage to get a goal or two in the first period since they don't have one yet. Dallas needs to get its top line going and involved in the offense because without them, the Stars are going to struggle to get goals.
The Predators end the week with a tough game in Chicago. The Preds better hope that Roman Josi is back for this game because the Hawks are off and flying on offense. Nashville is going to need a solid start and get the first goal to take the crowd out of the game. They are going to need to use its speed to draw some penalties and use special teams to its advantage. The Predators will want to play a solid, defensive road game and not give up too many chances to the Blackhawks.
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