The Nashville Predators face the Vancouver Canucks with both teams looking to improve from rough starts to the season. The Predators have a 4-6-1 record while the Canucks have a 3-6-2 record and are near the bottom of the Pacific Division. Both teams are looking to build off recent wins and rebound in the Western Conference and the upcoming game should be a good one as a result.
The Predators are off to a rough start to the season with their offense struggling, scoring only 2.73 goals per game. While Filip Forsberg, Matt Duchene, and Mikael Granlund have scored eight goals and 25 assists to lead the top two lines, the rest of the offense has struggled. The hope is that Yakov Trenin and Tanner Jeannot can step up as they play a key role on the top two lines but have only combined for four goals and three assists to start the season.
The offense has let the Predators down but the defense has also struggled, allowing 3.27 goals per game. Ryan McDonagh and Mattias Ekholm have combined for 1.6 defensive point shares and 38 blocked shots but the rest of the unit has struggled, allowing opponents to easily find open shots on the net. Furthermore, goaltender Juuse Saros has struggled in the net with a .898 save percentage and a 3.17 goals-against average on 246 shots.