Nashville Predators Returning to Promising Original Line Combinations
The Predators lines are altered again in hopes it sparks the team to their first win of the season.
Nashville Predators Returning to Promising Original Line CombinationsNot much has seemed to work for the Nashville Predators to begin the 2024-25 season as the team has started 0-5-0. In the midst of a losing streak like this one, there are going to constantly be changes until something works or gets the team going in the right direction.
The lines, other than the first line of Filip Forsberg, Ryan O'Reilly, and Gustav Nyquist that is still working, have been juggled between games and during. Jonathan Marchessault and Luke Evangelista have swapped to add some more potential scoring throughout the lines.
Three different players have served as the second line center already with Colton Sissons starting there, Tommy Novak getting a look, and even Steven Stamkos shifting over. A big thing to note about Stamkos being moved to the middle at any point is that he's better defensively when he's on the wing as he gets older. So one of Sissons or Novak has to work for now.
With all the altering of lines, it appears as though the Predators are going back to line combinations that are the most similar to the first game of the season where the team looked the best in the third period, almost mounting a comeback against the very strong Dallas Stars.
The first line remains intact as there's no signs they're not doing their job. As for the second line, Sissons is back between Stamkos and Marchessault for the sixth game of the season. Down on the third line, Novak and Evangelista are together with Mark Jankowski who seems to stay in the same spot regardless of line changes.
What's interesting is that the fourth line now features recently called up Zachary L'Heureux who was practicing with Michael McCarron and Cole Smith. This may see Philip Tomasino and Juuso Parssinen sit out the next game in place of the team's talented forward prospect for his first game of his career.
Stamkos and Marchessault will eventually find chemistry and work together, but whoever plays center needs to contribute. Evangelista will eventually see more top-6 time I expect as he is in line to move up in the lineup as soon as Nyquist moves on or declines to a third line player.
The coaching staff is hoping there's a spark somewhere and the Predators can start to get things turned around for the better.
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