Happy Friday, everyone and boy, doesn’t it feel good to officially have hockey back in the Athens of the South? The Preds made sure you were awake last night as the narrowed passed the Ottawa Senators for a 3-2 victory in their Home Opener. So, without further ado, here is your recap from last night’s nail-biter:

Scratches/IR: Victor Bartley, Taylor Beck, Mike Fisher (IR), Matt Cullen (IR), Viktor Stalberg (IR).

Notes before the Game: Has everyone seen the awesome opening video/projector-on-ice show that the Preds outdid themselves with last night? If you haven’t, we have the YouTube link below, but if you want to see this in person, you better have or find tickets to Saturday’s game against Dallas. Jump to the 2:00 minute mark to see the projector show in action — special thanks to Jeremy K. Gover for the video.

Pardon my language but… that was pretty. damn. cool. Again, if you missed it last night, be there tomorrow night.

First Period:
– No goals with Nashville out-shooting Ottawa 13 to 9.

Second Period:
– Ottawa would strike first on the board at 1:15 into the 2nd Period with goal from Kyle Turris. The Senators would hold Nashville at bay through the remainder of the second period.
– Nashville would remain on top of Ottawa in terms of shots, taking 10 to Ottawa’s five.
– In an “old habits die hard” moment, David Legwand – who spent an eon with the Predators and was their first ever draft pick – headed to the wrong penalty box after tripping Seth Jones. .Gif courtesy of the fine folks over at On The Forecheck.

Third Period A.K.A. Wakey-Wakey Time:
– Thanks to a penalty from Jared Cowen at 19:41 in the second period, Nashville started the third period out with a lovely power play, which Craig Smith took advantage of for his first goal of the season. Smith was assisted by Filip Forsberg (1) and Derek Roy (1).
– Less than seven minutes later, Shea Weber would give the Predators a 2-1 with a wrap around goal with some assistance from Ryan Ellis (1) and Paul Gaustad (1).
– Not to be outdone, Eric Nystrom would answer at 10:20 with his first goal of the season, pushing Nashville up 3-1 with assistance from Paul Gaustad (2) and Filip Forsberg (2).
– However, the Senators weren’t snoozing through the third. Ottawa’s Alex Chiasson would sink one past Pekka Rinne to put the Senators within one with a little under six minutes to go in regulation.

Even with Craig Smith taking a hooking penalty with less than two minutes left in regulation (and Leggy taking a holding call with under a minute left), the Predators whipped back and held the Senators at bay to win their first game of the season.

Three Stars of the Game:
First Star: Shea Weber
Second Star: Filip Forsberg
Third Star: Paul Gaustad

So, needless to say, Nashville started out on the right foot yesterday, though there definitely were some bumps in the road that need to be looked at and addressed. The Predators are back tomorrow at 7PM to take on division rivals, the Dallas Stars.