Nashville Returns To Practice With Eyes on Season Opener

NASHVILLE — The Nashville Predators were on the ice at the Centennial Sportsplex on Tuesday after taking Monday off. Nashville had its opening-night roster on the ice for just over an hour as the franchise turns its attention to Thursday's season opener against the Minnesota Wild.

"Yeah, you know what. I've loved the pace all through camp," Andrew Brunette said. "I didn't like it, obviously, Saturday. You get those games sometimes where it's the end of a training camp schedule, and nobody wants to get hurt, et cetera. So I think it's something we've got to learn from because that wasn't good enough. I think we knew that as a group, and today's pace and attention to detail, I thought was really sharp."

Nashville Predators Tuesday Practice Notes

The Predators opened practice on the penalty kill after allowing the Hurricanes to score on three-of-four extra man advantages on Saturday. Andrew Brunette directed the penalty killers into their defensive zones, and the Predators players practiced covering for one another while maintaining their defensive shape.
Nashville moved into their own defensive zone for the next drill, where lines took turns winning a defensive zone faceoff and traversing up the ice in various formations, moving the puck from defensive zone into the offensive zone.
The team transitioned into a neutral zone drill where the puck was set loose, forcing the team to regroup and then break out through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone.
Nashville put its defensemen on the ice, pitting two against two, with two forwards trying to redirect shots in front of the net.
The team moved into power play simulations as the unit worked on maintaining the offensive zone and generating shots. The first power play unit was Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos, Ryan O'Reilly, Matthew Wood, and Roman Josi. The second unit was Mavrik Bourque, Jonathan Marchessault, Ross Colton, Alexander Kerfoot, and Ryan Ufko.
The Predators played some five-on-five situations, where the offensive units tried to score on the defensive units, then skated down to the opposite end to defend a group of five waiting to play offense.

Nashville Predators Line Combinations at Tuesday's Practice

Forwards

Steven Stamkos - Ryan O'Reilly - Alexander Kerfoot
Filip Forsberg - Matthew Wood - Nils Hoglander
Ross Colton - Mavrik Bourque - Jonathan Marchessault
Adam Edstrom - Jack Drury - Reid Schaefer

Defensemen

Roman Josi - Ryan Ufko
Brady Skjei - Nick Perbix/Ilya Lyubushkin
Nicolas Hague - Adam Wilsby
William Trudeau - Jack Ahcan

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