The Nashville Predators dropped both ends of a split-squad preseason doubleheader against the Florida Panthers Monday at Amerant Bank Arena.
Florida blanked Nashville 5-0 in Game 1 and followed with a 5-2 victory in Game 2. The Preds ran into some penalty trouble in the first contest, allowing the Panthers to score their first three goals on the power play.
Jake Livingstone scored Nashville’s first goal of the day in the second game, driving to the net and winning a puck battle to sneak one past Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky at 8:36 of the second period. Tye Felhaber followed with a wrister of his own in the final frame.
ROSTER REPORT
Of the 61 players attending Preds training camp, 40 dressed and played at some point Monday to give the coaching staff an early look at their options for the 2023-24 season.
Here are the rosters Nashville used for each game.
PREDS STANDOUTS
- Anthony Angello was perfect in the faceoff circle in Game 1, winning all three of his attempts; Austin Roest was also 3-for-3 from the dot in Game 2.
- Gustav Nyquist recorded an assist on Livingstone’s goal in Game 2 for his first preseason point as a member of the Predators.
- Livingstone’s goal was his first in an NHL preseason contest; last season, he recorded one assist in five regular-season games with Nashville.
- Yaroslav Askarov saved all eight of the shots he faced in Game 2.
- Marc Del Gaizo led all Nashville skaters (in both games) with 22:03 of ice time.
THEY SAID IT
Dante Fabbro on the loss in Game 1:
“I thought we were a little hesitant at times, just pursuing the puck. Even myself, I think I could be a little bit more aggressive and try to get the puck back and whatnot and maybe just move pucks quicker. We want to play at a pace, and I think we're holding on to pucks for maybe half a second too long, and that makes a big difference in how we want to play. I thought there were times where we looked good and kind of in sync and connected. But it’s preseason; we’re going to be working out the kinks. So, there’s definitely lots to learn from tonight.”
Livingstone on learning a new system and expectations during preseason:
“I think we lost a lot of battles. It's the way it is sometimes, just getting used to a new system. Guys are kind of hesitant, and this time of year, you've got to use your instincts and play to your identity… I think there is an understanding. But when it comes to competing and getting beaten in battles, I don't think that's acceptable, no matter what time of the year it is. If we didn't compete in the last game last year, it's no different than if we didn't compete now. You have to compete every day in order to win hockey games, because winning hockey games is hard.”
Head Coach Andrew Brunette on his assessment of both games:
“It was good to get my eyes on a lot of different players. I’m still kind of familiarizing myself with everyone. These are tough games to to really get too worked up about, but I think I looked at it more as a learning experience. We got some good things on film, and I thought we did some good things at different parts of both games. I really liked our second game, besides about 10 minutes where we stopped playing a little bit. I think it was good; there’s a lot of good here.”
Brunette on how the players are adjusting to his fast-paced system:
“It’s a little bit uncomfortable. They're not used to doing some things a little differently. I'm asking them to do a lot of things that they are not used to. I asked him to play at a different pace. So I think it is a little uncomfortable for them, and it's going to take some time to get used to… We’re five days into camp, and this was a great day for us, meaning I got to see everybody. As a coaching staff, we’re going to put some pretty good video together, see how we can improve and some of the things we did well and build on it and be ready for Wednesday.”
UP NEXT
The Predators will open their home preseason slate on Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena, where they will host the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7 p.m. CT. Click here for tickets. The game will also be streamed on NashvillePredators.com and broadcast on 102.5 The Game.
