The Nashville Predators were soundly beaten Tuesday by the Oilers and face a Flames team who will use the same tricks to flummox the Predators.
Just ten games in to the 2022-2023 season, and games are already starting to feel "must win" for the Nashville Predators. The team has only won one game since returning from the Global Series and has battled a handful of different issues in the early start to the season.
On Tuesday, the Preds was soundly beaten by the Edmonton Oilers, a Pacific Division team that has consistently had Nashville's number over the last several seasons. The Oilers' fast transitional play, quick puck movement, and sneaky back door shots twisted the Predators in knots in the 7-4 loss. That doesn't bode well for tonight's game against the Flames who play a very similar style of hockey.
Despite losing Johnny Gaudreau in the offseason, the Flames added Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau to a roster already rich with depth talent. Kadri has racked up 10 points in 8 games while Rasmus Andersson and Tyler Toffoli have earned 7 points so far this season. Offensive contributions up and down Calgary's lineup have been a key to their early season success.
While both the Preds and Flames come into tonight's contest on two game losing streaks, the back story is much more bleak for Nashville. The Flames dropped close games to Edmonton and Seattle in the last week, but have beaten teams like Carolina, Colorado, and Edmonton in October. Nashville, on the other hand, has only put together one strong sixty minute performance since returning from the Global Series in Europe in a game against the struggling St. Louis Blues.
Both teams have Vezina finalists on their roster, and goaltending will be a key factor tonight. Jacob Markstrom has a .903 save percentage in his six starts while Flames back up Dan Vladar has been in net for 2 games, including their Tuesday loss to the Kraken.
Juuse Saros has started eight games in the regular season for the Preds. Nashville picked up a more reliable back up in the offseason in Kevin Lankinen, but Saros is used to a high volume workload and it seems likely he will get the start again tonight as the Preds will need all hands on deck to try and eke out a win.
Nashville must correct the mistakes that doomed them Tuesday night or tonight's game against the Flames will be a repeat disaster. While it is still early in the season, the Predators need to execute cleanly, get last season's star players going again, and play a complete sixty minutes. If tonight's matchup looks too much like Tuesday night's loss, the Preds will dig themselves deeper in a hole they may not be able to work out of.