This month will be an exercise in balancing game intensity and necessary recovery as Nashville opens the regular season with the Global Series in Prague.
The calendar page is turning to October which means the NHL regular season is ready to kick off. The Nashville Predators begin the season with a big trip to Europe. Roman Josi and Nino Niederreiter will return to Switzerland with the team for an exhibition game against Bern SC.
Niederreiter is looking forward to playing in front of family and friends in Switzerland.
"It's definitely going to be a special feeling playing in front of the Swiss fans in Bern," he shared.
From Bern, the Preds fly to Prague where they will open the season against the San Jose Sharks with back to back games on October 7 and 8. Those games will air at 1:00 pm CT in Nashville.
The Predators have only four days to return to Nashville and hit the ground running before two games against central division rival Dallas (10/13 & 10/15). The Stars could be a competitive team in the division so how Nashville manages the jet lag and mentally pushes through a unique start to the season will be an important indication of not just physical but mental toughness for the team at the beginning of the season.
The week of October 16-22 will be busy with three games. The Preds will welcome former Predator Kevin Fiala and the L.A. Kings on Tuesday and then set out for Columbus (10/20) for their first look at Johnny Gaudreau in a Blue Jackets jersey. The week wraps up with a home game against Philadelphia.
Perhaps the biggest divisional challenge comes at the end of the month when the Predators host the St. Louis Blues on 10/27. The Blues are not generating as much buzz across the league as their talented roster deserves, and this game will be a good test for exactly how a better rested Preds lineup measure up.
On October 29 Nashville wraps up their October schedule with another home game against the Washington Capitals.
With international travel to begin the month and three central division games against two teams who could be competing with Nashville for second place behind Colorado this season, a strong start for the Predators will be an important early challenge. Winning six of the nine October games could get Nashville off to a good start in the 2022-2023 regular season.