The line of Wood, Forsberg and Hoglander was particularly impressive in the win, combining for 12 of Nashville’s 26 shots on goal and creating offensive chances seemingly every time they were on the ice.

“I feel like it might have taken me a little bit to get into it, and then felt a little more comfortable as the game went on,” Wood said. “Obviosuly, Fil and Nils are really great players and fun to play with, so it was a lot of fun.”

“I thought they built off last year down the stretch when they played together,” Brunette said of Forsberg and Wood in particular. “I thought they were really good together. They feed off each other really well with their size and their puck protection abilities, and their little small area games. And it was pretty evident, especially that second and third period… I thought they controlled and dictated the game here for us tonight.”

The effort wasn’t perfect on Tuesday, but it never is this time of year. Instead, the Predators found a way to get better as the game went on, and by the end of the night, they had a victory. 

And although the wins don’t matter in the standings at this juncture, a triumph never hurts.

“I think we’ve had a really good camp as a team, and everyone’s looking really good and ready to get the season going,” Wood said. “It definitely helps when you know the guys are on your team and moving the puck well, and it makes the game a lot more fun to play.”

“That’s a good experience for us,” Brunette said. “We have to go through that. We have to go through those hard things here somewhere. It’s hard to replicate it when you go against each other every day, so today was a really good test for our group. I thought we got harder as it went on, and I think we’ll learn a little something, and we’ll be better next time out.”

Notes: 

Justus Annunen got the start in net for the Preds and made 25 saves in the win. 

Prior to Tuesday’s game, the Preds assigned 14 players – forwards John Farinacci, Aiden Fink, Hiroki Gojsic, Kalan Lind, Kyle Marino, Austin Roest, Oasiz Wiesblatt and Joey Willis; defensemen Andrew Gibson, Will Gilson, Kevin Gravel, Viggo Gustafsson and John Prokop; plus goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter – to Milwaukee of the AHL. 

Nashville’s preseason schedule continues this week as the Preds travel to Greensboro, North Carolina, to face the Hurricanes on Thursday. The two clubs will then meet again on Saturday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena in the preseason finale before the regular season begins next week.