Nashville Predators Lineup Decisions Before Playing Islanders

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Nashville Predators celebrating a goal against the Minnesota Wild on October 1, 2026.

The Nashville Predators are set to play the New York Islanders tonight in the second game of their five-game homestand.

Nashville is coming off a 6-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night to start their current stretch at home.

Head coach Andrew Brunette is hoping to carry that play over into tonight’s game against the Islanders. New York has not won a road game against the Nashville Predators since October 28, 2017.

“We proved to ourselves we could do it for 60 minutes. Now, can we stack it? Can we bring it again? You probably can’t play every game like that, and we know that,” Brunette said Tuesday morning.

“We’ve had a hard time consistently bringing it. We’re building our game as we go. The schedule has been hard in a couple of different ways; it’s hard for everybody. I think when you have as many new guys as we have, trying to get that connection as a group. We see it in bits and pieces throughout a game, but not consistently enough.”

Nashville enters tonight with 14 goals at five-on-five play, ranking 31st in the NHL. They’ve leaned heavily on the power play to win games so far. The Predators will indeed need to find a rythym on offense to be a more cohesive team.

Balancing changes on the blue line

While Brunette and the Predators want to become a more cohesive group as a whole, he’s had to balance how the blue line looks as well.

Nashville’s defense has been their Achilles’ heel this season and is a glaring issue when losing games. The way the Predators were exploited last week in Boston, losing 6-0, was the latest microcsm of the worst-case scenario.

The only way that will seem to improve is by seeing who will gel well together on defense. That also means Nashville will deploy seven defensemen more often.

“I think we’re trying to find chemistry. It’s been hard. We’re probably not creating enough offensively five-on-five, so we’re trying to find pieces who could work well with who,” Brunette said.

“We have so many new guys, so it takes a little bit of time. Sometimes you go 11 and 7, you get to get some different looks and line combinations. It’s a little bit of a growing process for our whole group. Going 11 and 7 gives tou that flexibility.”

Lineup changes for Nashville, new face on defense

The Nashville Predators have a new face to get acclimated. Daemon Hunt was claimed off waivers on Saturday and was on a plane to join the team five hours after learning he was joining a new team.

Hunt is the 11th defenseman that Nashville has seen play for them early in the season. He’s hopeful to make a positive impression and be a mainstay in Nashville’s lineup.

“Being rejected by an organization is tough, right, mentally. Accepting that and not being frustrated by their decisions. Very grateful for this opportunity to come here and be part of Nashville,” Hunt said.

Nashville will be dressing 11 forward and 7 defensemen tonight against the Islanders. So, Hunt will get a chance to prove he belongs and thinks his game will mesh well with the Predators.

“I find that I am a passer first, so I won’t be carrying the puck up the ice as much as some guys would. I love to jump up on offense; that’s an area of my game I want to improve on,” Hunt said.