NHL Game of the Week: Edmonton Oilers vs. Nashville Predators

We are a couple of weeks into the annual NHL season. Every team has played a couple of games at this point. Some teams have managed great or average success thus far while others have struggled to gather any momentum.

In this week’s anticipated game, the Edmonton Oilers will travel down south to clash with the Nashville Predators in their territory.

Both teams made the playoffs last season, but they have not had a great start to their respective seasons this year.

At the beginning of last season on Oct. 17, 2023, the Oilers managed to pick up their first win of said season against the Predators with a final score of 6-1.

Exactly one year later, these two teams will meet again under similar circumstances.

The Predators made many moves during this year’s off-season. Despite acquisitions to their offensive arsenal such as Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, they have yet to pick up their first win.

Nashville is heading into this game against Edmonton with a record of 0-3-0. They aren’t last in the standings within the Central Division but are also not in an ideal spot either.

On the other side of the fence, the Oilers signed a new general manager after Ken Holland’s contract had expired.

Their new general manager is Stan Bowman, who is the former general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks with Bowman at the helm managed to win the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

Bowman had been ineligible to work in the NHL since 2021 but was officially reinstated on July 1.

Edmonton had made the playoffs every year under Holland. It will be interesting to see how they do for the remainder of the season with this big change.

The Oilers were in the Stanley Cup Finals last season, but have had very little success offensively in their first few games.

Connor McDavid—who won the Conn Smythe Trophy—managed to help bring his team back from a 3-0 deficit. The Oilers would end up falling in Game 7 to the Florida Panthers.

McDavid has slowly begun to produce more assists during each game and will continue to be a problem for every NHL team going forward.

The Oilers are currently standing at 1-3-0. They were able to pick up their first win of the season on Wednesday against the Philadelphia Flyers in Edmonton during the overtime period with a final score of 4-3.

Their last season had started in a similar fashion, but were able to bounce back with multiple winning streaks.

With it still being way too early in the season to count either of these teams out, a win here could be a massive step in the right direction.

Edmonton is looking to continue picking up its momentum, while Nashville is looking for its first victory. Will the Oilers repeat history a year later or can the Predators shut them down this time?

Hudson Hvizdak is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email hph5358@psu.edu.