After the Canes got off to a winning start against the New York Islanders in the pre-season, the Carolina Hurricanes turn their attention to Music City as they look towards their game at Bridgestone Arena with the Nashville Predators. The puck drops at 8 PM EST, but before that, we have three keys to beating the Nashville Predators.
With the Carolina Hurricanes getting off to a perfect start, the Predators have not found the same instant success. The Nashville Predators were victim to the first win ever for the Seattle Kraken franchise, and this is a very different Nashville team from the team Carolina met in the playoffs last season. Nashville has embraced its rebuilding needs.
No longer will Carolina find Ryan Ellis or Victor Arvidsson on this Predators blueline. Instead, they are embarrassing young depth. You will recognize a lot of their depth pieces as former teammates to the Canes prospects in Chicago last season. People like Phillip Tomasino headline the new young wave of prospects in Nashville.
As the Canes kick off their new campaign against the division they currently reign over, there’s a lot the team will need to do to find the same success they had during the shortened season last year. It’s time for the Canes to assert their dominance over the teams they are expected to beat as they come up against their first “weaker” opponent of the season.
I say “Weaker” because it’s the NHL. Every team will get wins, even against teams they are not expected to. This is the time for the Carolina Hurricanes to prove themselves as genuinely heartless contenders as they move towards their goal of the Stanley Cup.