Lots of talk surrounded this year’s team as changes were made during the off-season, new players and new coaches were brought in and that was all that Predators fans talked about as the season approached. The new coaches brought with them a new system and something that fans had wanted to see for years, more offense. The new players were acquired to help generate that offense.

In the three regulation wins thus far in the Predators season they have outshot their opponents in all but one game. In their regulation wins they are averaging 32.3 shots on goal, that is a little less than four more shots on goals per game in their wins compared to last season’s average in wins after six games. In their two shootout losses they have averaged 20.5 shots on goal, their lowest output this season.

Looking at a few of the new players this season, Mike Ribeiro, Derek Roy, Anton Volchenkov, and James Neal have all notched at least one point through the first six games. Ribeiro leads the way with five points after getting his third goal and second assist in Tuesday night’s game against his former team, the Arizona Coyotes. Ribeiro’s three goals have him in a tie with captain Shea Weber for the team lead.

 

Around the league

Carrying on with the season of new theme former Predators starting a full season with a new team are also seeing success. Patric Hornqvist was the player that the Preds traded away to acquire James Neal. In four games, Hornqvist has scored four goals while assisting in four others, earning at least one point in each game.

Another player that was traded away late last season was Kevin Klein who scored his first goal of the season in Tuesday night’s match against the New Jersey Devils. Klein scored the game-winning goal off of a pass from teammate Chris Mueller.

Other former Predators that are seeing some success include Marty Erat and David Legwand. Erat has four points through five games including a goal against Nashville on Tuesday while Legwand has two goals and an assist in five games himself.

Finally Barry Trotz, the only coach that Nashville fans knew before this season, is experiencing some success himself. His Washington Capitals team has yet to suffer a regulation loss with a 3-0-2 record. The Predators and Blackhawks are the only other teams in the NHL that have yet to lose in regulation as Nashville has a 4-0-2 record and the Blackhawks have a 4-0-1 record.

The Preds 4-0-2 record is the best start to the season since going 3-0-3 to start off the ’08-’09 season. The best start in franchise history came in the ’05-’06 season where they went 6-0-0.

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