The long wait is finally over. The sour taste of a first-round playoff exit washed away, and speculation of line combinations, performances, and expectations finally laid to rest.
The Nashville Predators opened their arena to the Carolina Hurricanes to start the 2015 NHL season. Nashville should be a contender in the Central division, while Carolina is going to spend the year giving their young blue line experience and retooling to be competitive in the future. But none of that applied for the 60 minutes the two teams went toe to toe.
Both teams looked as expected, with the Predators dictating the pace early and the Hurricanes trying desperately to hang on.