NHL Game of the Week: Dallas Stars vs. Nashville Predators

The NHL season opens this week with a plethora of games. We saw the first games of the season played last weekend. The New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres played the global series in Prague, Czechia.

To start their season the Dallas Stars will travel to play the Nashville Predators in one of the week's most anticipated matchups. Both teams are coming off playoff seasons.

The Stars went to the third round, where they would lose to the Edmonton Oilers.

The Predators on the other hand fell in the first round to the Vancouver Canucks. They have made some big moves over the off-season.

To start, they extended their goalie, Juuse Saros, to an 8-year deal worth $61.92 million. They also made multiple splashes in free agency, signing former Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos and former Las Vegas Golden Knights star Jonathan Marchessault.

The Stars didn’t make many big moves this off-season but added depth pieces to fill voids on defense. Their biggest move was extending Matt Duchene after he had 65 points last season.

This preseason the Stars went 5-0-1, but center Logan Stankoven is a player to watch for them as his role continues to grow this year. The 21-year-old had 14 points in 24 games last year.

Dallas' biggest question mark is Jason Robertson. Their star player is listed as day-to-day after missing the entire preseason but is expected to play Thursday night, aiming to shake off the rust from the offseason.

The Predators didn’t have preseason success like the Stars. They would go 2-3-0 this preseason, with one of their games against the Tampa Bay Lightning getting postponed.

They don’t have any younger players looking to make a huge impact but watch the impact that the free-agent additions will have on the team.

Stamkos and Marchessault are both expected to bring more offense to the Predators this season.

Filip Forsberg is always someone to watch. He was the Predators goals and points leader last year having 48 goals and 94 points.

Nashville will be at full strength as they don’t have any of their main roster on the injury report.

The goalies could steal the show on opening night as we will see two of the best in the league.

Jake Oettinger will likely start for the Stars. He posted 35 wins with a 2.72 GAA and a .905 save percentage last season.

The Predators will counter with Juuse Saros. Last season he had 35 wins with a 2.86 GAA and a .906 save percentage.

Both teams are hoping that they will be able to get off to a hot start. Game one is always a great time for fans.

The puck drop is set for Thursday, Oct. 10 at 8 p.m.

Andrew Matz is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email atm5759@psu.edu.