Preds Start Weekend Set with Loss to Panthers

Ryan Johansen scored Nashville's lone goal as the Predators fell to the Florida Panthers by a 4-1 final on Saturday evening at Bridgestone Arena. The result brings an end to Nashville's two-game win streak and keeps them at 86 points in the standings.
"We needed more tonight," Predators Head Coach John Hynes said. "I thought we played the game, but I didn't think our competitive level was where it needed to be. I didn't think our pace and speed was what it needed to be. I thought our execution with the puck needed to be better. If we're going to come out and win these types of games we have to play better than we did tonight."
"We had a lot of looks," Johansen said. "A lot of credit to their goalie, he played a great game. Unfortunately, we weren't able to capitalize anywhere."

Florida struck first on Saturday when Carter Verhaeghe beat Juuse Saros on a delayed penalty for a 1-0 advantage, but just over two minutes later, Filip Forsberg found Johansen in front, and No. 92 deposited his fifth goal in three games to even the score after 20 minutes.

The only tally of the second stanza came off the stick of Anton Lundell at 15:16 of the period, and despite a late push from the Preds, the Panthers put two more into the empty net to seal their seventh-straight win.
"We did have a lot of chances," Preds defenseman Jeremy Lauzon said. "We just needed to capitalize on them moving forward. We knew Florida was a machine offensively, and I think our penalty kill was solid and gave us a chance to win the game. But we had a lot of chances. We just needed to capitalize on them like we have before."
"We had some looks, but I think overall… [Florida] played the game that they needed to play to win the game," Hynes said. "Tonight I expected more from our team in general. I thought the pace which we played with, the competitive level that we played with and our execution with the puck needed to be better. I thought we were just average, and we're not a team that can play average and win."
Now, the Preds will turn their attention to the Penguins as they travel to Pittsburgh for a Sunday afternoon matchup in Western Pennsylvania, and Nashville will be looking to improve upon their first half of the weekend back-to-back.
"This time of year, and tonight, a couple little mistakes cost you," Johansen said. "It was very tight out there, and we did do a lot of good things offensively, but we just needed that little bit more to get it done. We didn't tonight, and we'll try and get it done tomorrow."

Notes:

Nashville's lineup remained unchanged from Thursday's win at Ottawa. Predators centerman Michael McCarron is week-to-week with an upper-body injury, and Matt Benning, Ben Harpur and Jeremy Davies were scratched against the Panthers.
The Predators will conclude their weekend back-to-back set tomorrow afternoon in Pittsburgh when they face the Penguins at 3 p.m. CT on TNT. Nashville will then return to Bridgestone Arena to start a five-game homestand beginning on Tuesday against San Jose.