The Nashville Predators face the Colorado Avalanche with both teams looking to improve from slow starts to the season. The Predators have a 5-7-1 record while the Avalanche have a 6-4-1 record and are hoping to build off back-to-back wins. Both teams are looking to improve in the Central Division and the Western Conference and the upcoming game should be a great one as a result.
The Predators have struggled this season and hope the offense can improve, scoring only 2.62 goals per game. While Filip Forsberg, Matt Duchene, and Mikael Granlund have scored nine goals and 25 assists to lead the top two lines, the rest of the offense has struggled. The hope is that Tanner Jeannot and Yakov Trenin can step up as they play a pivotal role in the forward unit but have only scored four goals and three assists this season.
Along with the offense struggling, the defense has also let the Predators down, allowing 3.38 goals per game. Mattias Ekholm and Ryan McDonagh have combined for 1.7 defensive point shares and 43 blocked shots but the rest of the unit has struggled, allowing opponents to find open shots on the net at will. Furthermore, goaltender Juuse Saros has struggled in the net with a .892 save percentage and a 3.46 goals-against average on 297 shots.