On a Hockey Fights Cancer and Military Appreciation Night in Nashville, the Predators opened up the scoring early on a goal by defenseman Mattias Ekholm. Kyle Turris accidentally had a puck stolen away, but Ekhom nabbed it from the Devils player and skated it into the zone and snapped it home. His goal came at 1:17 in the first.
A shot into traffic from Sami Vatanen evened the score shortly after. The Predators spent much of the rest of the first period attempting to gain possession and get some shots on net.