RECAP: Panthers 6, Predators 2 (Game 2)

SUNRISE, Fla. – Why win once when you can win twice.

After earning a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of their preseason doubleheader, the Florida Panthers secured the sweep with a 6-2 win in Game 2 at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday.

In each of the last two seasons, the Panthers have gone 2-0 against Nashville.

Right from the get-go in Game 2, the first line of Carter Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart was noticeable early, snapping the puck around without missing a beat from last season.

“They did the right things, they didn’t cheat the game, and they ran their routes,” said head coach Paul Maurice on the group’s effort.

Frustrating the Predators with their puck control, Barkov drew an early tripping penalty to send the Panthers on the power play.

Picking up right where he left off from his 57-goal season, Reinhart tapped in a feed from Barkov backdoor on Nashville’s Scott Wedgewood on the man-advantage to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 4:36.

Getting another chance on the power play soon after, Josh Davies, who’s preparing for his first pro season, snapped in a mid-range wrister at 7:36 to extend Florida’s lead to 2-0 in the first period.

A period where the Predators couldn’t stay out of the box, the Panthers took advantage again with the extra attacker and made it 3-0 when Jesper Boqvist tipped in a shot from his brother Adam at 14:46.

This season, the Boqvists can join Marc and Eric Staal, Pavel and Valeri Bure, and Jeff and Brad Norton as the fourth pair of brothers to skate together for the Panthers in a regular season game.

“I don’t think we’ve ever done that before, so it was pretty crazy,” Adam said of teaming up with his brother to light the lamp. “It’s still pretty surreal, but we’re going to get used to it.”

Quickly after, at the 16:15 mark, Gustav Forsling, fresh off a star-making showing during the run to the Stanley Cup last season, found the back of the net on a shot from the blueline to make it 4-0.

Being held to just five shots in the first period, the Predators cashed in on their third shot as forward Jake Lucchini beat Sergei Bobrovsky on a close-range wrister to cut Florida’s lead to 4-1 at 17:53.

Responding early in the second, Bobrovsky got the crowd going with the “Bob-by!” chants after a glove save on Tommy Novak kept the Predators from closing the gap even further.

Just before being relieved by Chris Driedger around the halfway point of the game, Bobrovsky got the fans out of their seats and fired up with a few more big saves.

The Stanley Cup champion goaltender stopped six of seven shots in a period and a half of play.

Driedger, who returned to the team as a free agent in the offseason after playing for the Panthers from 2019-21, was tested early by the Nashville power play, but was able to keep the score intact.

With just over three minutes left in the period, forward Patrick Giles got “Mambo No. 5” playing after putting in a pass from Davies to make it 5-1 at 16:40.

On the night, Davies finished with two points (goal, assist), three shots and four hits in 15:12 minutes of ice time.

“The last couple days have been pretty hard and definitely taxing on the body, but I think that makes you want it that much more and work that much harder,” said Davies. “I’m grateful for the last three days and I’m looking forward to this year.”

Withstanding a peppering of Predators shots midway through the third period, Adam Boqvist buried a pass from forward Jonah Gadjovich to cushion Florida’s lead to 6-1 at 9:38.

In addition to that helper, Gadjovich also dropped the gloves twice in the win.

Lighting the lamp for the first time as a Predator, Steven Stamkos, the former longtime captain of the cross-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning, struck on the power play with his signature one-timer to trim Nashville’s deficit to 6-2 at 16:03.

Locking it in for the remainder of the game, Driedger finished with 18 saves on 19 shots.

Getting off to a perfect 2-0 start in the preseason, the Panthers will be back in action Wednesday when they battle the Lightning in a neutral-site matchup at Kia Center in Orlando at 7 p.m. ET.