The Nashville Predators open the season on the road against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa Bay won both games between the two last season. Nashville will look to get back into the postseason and they failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2013-14. There have been a lot of changes, with a new coach and players coming and going over the off-season. The Predators ranked 28th in goals per game and 23rd in shots per game. On the defensive end, they ranked 12th in goals against per game and 27th in shots against per game. Tampa Bay had made three straight Cup finals but that caught up with them last year as they were bounced in the first round. They may struggle early in the season, as goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy will miss about the first eight weeks of the season. Last season. They were ranked eighth in goals and 13th in shots per game. On the defensive end, they were 14th in goals against per game and 20th in shots against per game. Vasilevskiy is a big loss, and I think that gives Nashville an advantage. Juuse Saros was good last year in net for Nashville and he will outplay Johansson in this contest.

Play on Nashville. This is a 2% play.