Nashville Predators head coach Andrew Brunette switched up a couple of his lines Thursday, and it paid off.
Oct 23, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators center Ryan O'Reilly (90) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal against the Vancouver Canucks during the second period at Bridgestone Arena. Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
Reshuffling lines is often done by coaches to breathe some life into a struggling offense. The Nashville Predators certainly needed a change of pace coming into Thursday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks.
Preds head coach Andrew Brunette switched up a couple of his lines from the previous game against the Anaheim Ducks, and the moves seemed to have the desired effect. It wasn’t an explosive display, but the Preds did just enough to come away with a 2-1 victory at Bridgestone Arena.
“A little bit of reset in our mindset,” Brunette said post-game. “I thought it was evident in the way we played tonight. I thought everybody was all in. Everybody pulled and paddled hard, pulled their weight. It was good to get a win.”
Matthew Wood, who was called up from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals and joined the club for an optional practice Thursday morning, was put at right wing on a line with Filip Forsberg and Ryan O’Reilly to generate a spark on the top line.
Fedor Svechkov slid over to center with Tyson Jost moving to left wing and Luke Evangelista coming over from the top line to play right wing.
Wood, whom Brunette raved about all through training camp until a lower-body injury sidelined him to start the season, nearly got his first NHL goal early in the second period. He was set up beautifully by Forsberg and O’Reilly, but Vancouver netminder Thatcher Demko slammed the door to rob him of that dream moment.
The 20-year-old winger ended the evening with four shots on goal and won his only faceoff in 14:28 of ice time.
The Preds got the job done despite a penalty-filled opening period that leaned heavily in favor of the Canucks. Nashville’s penalty kill, which came into the game 3-for-20, killed all eight minutes of its first period infractions and didn’t give up a goal in all five of its kills.
It was on the Preds’ fifth penalty-kill that O’Reilly scored the team’s first shorthanded goal of 2025-26 and his first shorthanded tally in three years to give Nashville a 1-0 lead at the 9:01 mark of the middle frame.
O’Reilly, who now has three goals on the young season, won 52.9% of his draws and took two shots on net.
The fourth line, which remained intact with Cole Smith, Michael McCarron and Ozzy Wiesblatt, made the difference in the other Preds goal. Smith tipped in Justin Barron's shot for what proved to be the game-winner, putting the Preds back in front 2-1.
Getting “greasy” goals has been difficult of late for the Predators.
“We’re going to live and die on dirty goals,” Smith said after the game. “It felt nice. I think we’ve been playing well the last couple of games, they just haven’t been going in for us. It felt good for that (goal) to go in.”
That line set the tone in the third period, and Brunette was happy to see them get their due.
“They were good tonight,” Brunette said. “They’ve been good all year. It’s nice to see them get rewarded. They get so many chances. It was nice to see one go in for them.”
It was the energy level of all four lines that stood out as much as the win itself, which snapped a winless streak of 0-3-1. Once the penalty fest subsided, the Preds seemed to find their legs and play with extended intensity for the first time in several games.
“I thought we forechecked the whole time, we were hard on our D,” O’Reilly said. “We were wearing them down, had some good o-zone pressure… As a group, not cheating the game. We can’t afford to do that right now.”
The shot total told the story; Nashville outshot the Canucks in every period and finished the night with a 35-22 advantage. After having 16 giveaways against the Ducks, they had 10 against Vancouver.
They played scrappy, too, the numerous early penalties notwithstanding. Wiesblatt, who had several good looks of his own, continued to throw his weight around as he’s done all season.
"He's formed into our identity down there," Smith said. "He's a gritty player, he's going to play hard every night. That's what we love about him."
It’s only one game, and Brunette will reshuffle the deck again. Jonathan Marchessault is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, so the lines will change to accommodate his return.
Like a deck of cards, Brunette can only hope he gets dealt a good hand the next time.