3 Observations From Nashville Predators’ Pre-Season Loss To Hurricanes

Nov 25, 2019; Nashville, TN, USA; Nashville Predators left wing Daniel Carr (26) celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal in the shootout past St. Louis Blues goaltender Jake Allen (34) at Bridgestone Arena. Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

Despite a slightly more spirited effort from the Nashville Predators in Raleigh against the Carolina Hurricanes Sunday than what they showed the night before in Tampa Bay against the Lightning, the result on the scoreboard was the same: a loss.

Daniel Carr, in camp on a PTO, and Reid Schaefer scored for the Predators in a 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Canes at Lenovo Center. Felix Unger-Sorum, Bradly Nadeau (two goals) and Charles Alexis Legault tacked on the other Canes tallies.

“I mean, no quit in this group,†Preds defenseman Nick Blankenburg said told reporters after the game. “I know some guys had a couple back-to-backs and late nights last night, and obviously a younger team coming on the road against just a hard-nosed Carolina team. I think there’s some things we can learn from and continue to get better at but, I mean, that’s what training camps are for, so just continue to build off it and go from there.â€

The Preds have just one pre-season contest remaining, a home game against these same Hurricanes next Saturday at Bridgestone Arena. The roster will be a bit thinner by then, so there isnâ€t much time for players on the bubble to show what they can do.

Here are some takeaways from the night.

The Younger Guys Took Center Stage

Predators head coach Andrew Brunette went with a less experienced lineup against the Canes than in the Tampa Bay game on Saturday.

Four players skated for the second straight night: Tanner Molendyk, Zach Lâ€Heureux and Ozzy Wiesblatt, who each made their pre-season debuts the night before. Fedor Svechkov also saw action for the second straight night.

Otherwise, it was young prospects or older players on PTOâ€s like Carr, who has spent the last four seasons playing in Switzerland.

If Carr’s name is familiar to Preds fans, heâ€s the same Daniel Carr who scored an overtime goal in a win over the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 25, 2019.

Though tentative in the beginning, the young guys picked up the pace as the game went along. Oâ€Hara, who assisted on Carr†goal, had a great chance in the third, but was stymied by Carolina netminder Cayden Primeau.

Oasiz Wiesblatt, making his pre-season debut, showed his physicality by getting in a scrap and drawing a five-minute fighting major in the third period.

“It was fun to see the Wiesblatt brothers play together,†Brunette smiled. “Oasiz is a fun player.â€

But the Canes proved too much in the end, outshooting the Predators in every period and 36-20 for the game.

“I thought the guys battled, battled all night,†Brunette said afterward. “I think there were some ebbs and flows of the game where we kind of carried momentum, and then they brought it right back to us. So, I thought guys did a great job.â€

With more cuts coming next week, it was the last chance for some to convince the coaching staff they deserve a longer look.

Kudos To The Penalty Kill, Low Marks For The Power Play

The Predators penalty-kill was put to the test this weekend, and came through for the most part.

After piling up 18 penalty minutes against Tampa Bay Saturday, the Preds added 15 against the Canes. They managed to kill five out of seven against the Bolts and went 4-for-5 against Carolina.

The power play was a different story. It struggled to get any traction, going 0-for-11 combined in the back-to-back. Both stats are pretty much in line with last season, when Nashville ranked 18th in the NHL on the man advantage and seventh on the PK.

The Predators have to hope the power-play unit reverses that trend once the regular season starts; otherwise, the struggle to score goals will roll over from 2024-25.

Tanner Molendyk Continues To Make His Case

With Nicolas Hague sidelined 4-6 weeks with an upper-body injury, all eyes are on several young players to pick up the slack on defense.

it was especially important for Tanner Molendyk to make a statement that he belongs in the mix for one of those final spots.

Playing for the second consecutive night was a good chance to see how Molendyk would respond to a back-to-back. He made a nice takeaway on Canes captain Jordan Staal in the first period that was quite impressive. He did get called for tripping less than four minutes into the game, but his play against a savvy veteran like Staal proves he has the tools; he just needs to play catch-up after coming bac from injury. Meanwhile, other candidates like Spencer Stastney, who suited up on Sunday, and Adam Wilsby, who played Saturday, are also vying for that spot.

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