RALEIGH --The Florida Panthers are heading home from the four-team Prospect Showcase with a 2-1-0 record following a 6-1 loss to the Nashville Predators at PNC Arena on Monday.
Prior to being handed their only loss during the tournament, the Panthers had secured a 6-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday and a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.
RECAP: Panthers fall to Predators, finish Prospect Showcase 2-1-0
"I thought they competed," Charlotte Checkers head coach Geordie Kinnear said of his team's performance throughout the entire Prospect Showcase. "You look at it and it was eight periods of competing very, very hard, and then the last [period] got away from us. The identity is there, and that's what we were looking for. We want to build off that both individually and as a group."
Breaking the ice for Nashville, Egor Afanasyev, who was in the right place at the right time after a defender broke up a cross-ice pass, jumped on a loose puck outside the blue paint and lifted it past Mack Guzda for his fourth goal of the tournament to make it 1-0 at 4:57 of the first period.
Connecting for a sweet score just 36 seconds into the second period, Justin Sourdif set up Ethan Keppen for a goal on the doorstep with a slick backdoor dish to make it a 1-1 contest.
"He plays direct," Kinnear said of Keppen, who's one of several prospects hoping to make a mark in Charlotte this season. "I actually enjoyed his game throughout [the tournament]. I thought he played direct, held the puck and went to the blue paint. We're excited about him."
After wrapping up his junior career in the Ontario Hockey League, Keppen is preparing for his first full season in the pros after signing a one-year AHL contract with the Panthers in August.
"Overall, this has been a great experience for all the guys," said Keppen, who was originally selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the fourth round (122nd overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft. "We gelled together and got two wins. Unfortunately we didn't get the last one, but overall we learned a lot of things and we were happy with the result this weekend."
Taking advantage of a breakdown by the Panthers, Cameron Hausinger put the Predators back on top when he blasted a backdoor pass into the twine from the low slot to make it 2-1 at 8:15.
In the waning minutes of the middle frame, both goaltenders came up with highlight-reel stops.
Not long after Yaroslav Askarov sprawled out to rob Riley Bezeau on the power play, Guzda made sure that Florida's deficit would stay at 2-1 heading into the third period when he denied Luke Evangelista on a re-direct from the low slot just a few seconds before the horn sounded.
Just 4:01 into the third period, Evangelista would get his revenge when he slipped behind the defense before sending a shot through Guzda's five-hole to give Nashville a 3-1 lead. At 6:50, Juuso Parssinen padded that advantage to 4-1 when he cashed in from on top of the crease.
From there, the Predators continued to pull away when Jimmy Huntington lit the lamp at 10:14 to make it 5-1. A little over three minutes later, Huntington struck again - this time on the power play - when he took a pass through the slot and fired a shot past Guzda to make it 6-1 at 13:35.
"It's about learning lessons along the way so that you're able to win in the end, and I thought obviously we learned a lesson in the third," Kinnear said. "But big picture, I felt very appreciative of the work the kids put in this week with their work ethic and compete. Overall, it was a very positive tournament."
That positivity will continue this week when the Panthers kick off training camp on Thursday.
"It's really cool," Zachary Uens, a fourth-round pick (105th overall) by the Panthers in 2020, said when asked about looking ahead to his first NHL training camp. "You've been looking up to [NHL players] all your life, and now you get to step on the ice with them and compete. It's going to be a really cool experience."
For more information on training camp, stay tuned to FloridaPanthers.com.
