The Preds traveled to New York Thursday to take on the Rangers in their season opener. It was not pretty, but Predators were able to hang on and beat a young Rangers team 3-2. The New York Rangers have 4 rookies on their roster and the Preds were expected to handle this team with ease. In a game going down to the wire, some scrappy play helped the Preds come away with the win.

Ryan Hartman was healthy enough to come off the IR and start on the 3rd line alongside Nick Bonino and Calle Jarnkrok. Another move in the lineup tonight was Zac Rinaldo getting the start on the 4th line over Freddie Gaudreau. Rinaldo only had 7:46 of ice time which was a team low. He had 2 shots and a penalty during his unimpressive debut for the Preds.

1st Period

The Predators looked sloppy in the 1st period. They struggled to get any offense going while Craig Smith accounted for 4 of the Preds 9 shots. Players were not in the right spots causing missed passes and turnovers. The Preds had 7 of their 9 giveaways in the first period alone, but were able to not give up any points off of them.

2nd Period

The Preds came out hot in the 2nd period with a goal by Filip Forsberg to get things rolling. The Rangers responded right back when Jesper Fast snuck one by Pekka Rinne. After the Rangers goal, the Preds struggled to maintain and clear the puck. On offense, they could not get any good chances and were not putting any traffic in front of the net. Pekka Rinne helped the Preds stay in the game with some key saves.

3rd Period

In the 3rd period, Colton Sissons won an offensive faceoff that P.K. Subban lasered into the back of the Rangers net for a 2-1 lead. As the Preds got a defensive rhythm going, Kyle Turris was called for slashing giving the Preds penalty kill their first test of the season. The penalty kill did a good job keeping the puck out of the zone only allowing one shot. After the penalty kill, with 3 minutes remaining, the Preds continued to struggle maintaining the puck. They caught a break when Colton Sissons scored on an empty net after P.K. Subban took an off-setting penalty in front of his own goal. In an exciting ending, the Rangers scored with 34 seconds remaining. The Rangers offense kept firing the puck at Rinne, but the Preds held on to win 3-2.

The Predators were out-shot 36-33.

Final Thoughts

The Preds chemistry was evident tonight but they are not in sync with each other yet. The defense is making a majority of the passing errors in large part due to bad positioning and trusting where their teammate is going to be. This is a kink that I would expect the Preds to work out fairly quickly. The Preds took 3 penalties tonight but two were off-setting, leaving the Predators shorthanded only one time. This is definitely a positive for the team that led the NHL in penalties averaging 11 minutes in the box per game just a season ago. I would expect to see Freddie Gaudreau in the lineup in place of Zac Rinaldo soon, maybe even Saturday. Craig Smith led the Preds with 6 shots followed by P.K. Subban with 4. The Preds top line was quiet tonight as they only produced 6 shots, 0 by Viktor Arviddson. On defense, Mattias Ekholm was paired with P.K. Subban who were on the ice for the first three goals. They had 3 points, 3 takeaways, 2 giveaways and 3 blocked shots. This pair seemed to be more productive than the Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis duo that only produced 2 shots and 3 blocked shots. Pekka Rinne had a great performance, stopping some very tough shots by the Rangers offense. He finished the game with 34 total saves, stopping 7-8 high-danger shots. Overall, the Preds struggled to create traffic in front of the net, maintain possession of the puck, and clear the puck effectively. Being the first game, I expect the Preds to tidy things up before they take on the Islanders Saturday.

Production by line: 

1st line: Forsberg- Johansen- Arviddson

1 goal, 0 assists, 6 shots, 6 takeaways, 1 giveaway.

2nd line: Fiala- Turris- Smith

0 goals, 2 assists, 10 shots, 1 takeaway, 1 giveaway

3rd line: Jarnkrok- Bonino- Hartman

0 goals, 0 assists, 4 shots, 1 takeaway, 2 giveaways

4th line: Rinaldo- Sissons- Salomaki

1 goal, 1 assist, 3 shots, 2 takeaways, 1 giveaway

Defensive Pair 1: Josi- Ellis

0 goals, 1 assist, 2 shots, 2 takeaways, 1 giveaways, 3 blocked shots

Defensive Pair 2: Subban- Ekholm

1 goals, 2 assist, 5 shots, 3 takeaways, 2 giveaways, 3 blocked shots

Defensive Pair 3: Hamhuis- Weber

0 goals, 0 assist, 3 shots, 1 takeaways, 0 giveaways, 1 blocked shots

Next game: @Islanders on Saturday (10/6) at 7 pm Eastern

-Written by Matt Klett