After a long summer, it's once again time for the puck to drop at Bridgestone Arena to kick off the 2026-27 season.
Both the Minnesota Wild and the Nashville Predators have had to wait a couple of extra days to get their first game under their belt. Minnesota will be without one of their top defensemen, as Brock Faber is currently recovering from a skull fracture that was suffered in preseason. Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson is also out of the lineup due to a lower-body injury. The Predators on the other hand, have a clean bill of health heading into opening night.
Ross Colton, Mavrik Bourque, Jack Drury, Alexander Kerfoot and Adam Edstrom are all expected to make their Predators debut.
Projected Lines:
Predators:
Steven Stamkos - Ryan O’Reilly - Alexander Kerfoot
Filip Forsberg - Matthew Wood - Nils Hoglander
Ross Colton - Mavrik Bourque - Jonathan Marchessault
Reid Schaefer - Jack Drury - Adam Edstrom
Roman Josi - Ryan Ufko
Brady Skjei - Nick Perbix
Nicolas Hague - Adam Wilsby
Juuse Saros
Justus Annunen
Wild:
Kirill Kaprizov - Danila Yurov - Maxim Shabanov
Blake Coleman - Joel Eriksson Ek - Matt Boldy
Yakov Trenin - Ryan Hartman - Bobby Brink
Nick Foligno - Michael McCarron - Marcus Foligno
Quinn Hughes - Jared Spurgeon
Olli Maatta - Jonas Brodin
Daemon Hunt - Zach Bogosian
Jesper Wallstedt
Calvin Pickard
How to Watch:
The game will be broadcast on The Spot - Nashville 28 and the Nashville Predators App for those in the Predators' market. Otherwise, out-of-market fans can watch the game on ESPN+.
