Michael McCarron scored the lone Nashville goal as the Predators fell to the Florida Panthers by a 4-1 final on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result sees the Preds drop their second straight game to finish the season series with the Panthers.
Of concern to Nashville was the loss of Captain Roman Josi due to injury after he took a hit from behind from Florida’s Sam Bennett late in the second period. Josi did not return for the final frame, and postgame, the Preds announced the defenseman is being evaluated for an upper-body injury.
“We played with passion,” Preds defenseman Luke Schenn said of Nashville’s response to the hit on Josi. “I mean, you don't even really know what to say anymore as far as the overall team game - nothing's easy… Sometimes you're giving up a lot, or your defensive game’s not there, but at least you catch the odd break and get the puck in the net. It's been hard to come by. But if there's one thing to take out of [the third period] is that we had some passion, and we tried to do the best we could, sticking up for each other.”
“It's a tough one,” Preds forward Cole Smith said. “I thought at moments we played really well, and then at moments we didn't play well at all. I think our start wasn't great, kind of put us in a hole early. Didn't manage the puck, and so we kept feeding them. It's kind of tough coming back from that. But I think at times in the second and third period - especially the start of the third - we played our game a little bit. Ice is at a premium against a team like this, and we didn't manage it as well as we should have.”
The Panthers had a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes courtesy of a power-play goal from Bennett, and Justin Sourdif beat Saros early in the second stanza to give Florida a 2-0 advantage through two periods.
McCarron brought the Preds to within one when he poked home a loose puck past Spencer Knight, and a spirited scrap between Smith and Bennett early in the third following the hit on Josi brought more life, but that was as close as Nashville came. The Panthers added two more before the night was done to give the home team a losing result with just three goals scored in their last three outings.
“You need to score to win in this League,” Schenn said. We get some big saves all the time. But you feel for both goalies, but [Saros] a lot…he doesn't get much support. When you're trying to win a game all the time and you don't score, it's obviously extremely challenging, and every play means that much more. … I don't really know too many games this year where it just found its way in the back of the net and we can feel good about ourselves, protect the lead. Every game, it’s a grind, for sure.”
The Predators will have yet another tough challenge on Thursday when they welcome the Winnipeg Jets to town and wrap up a four-game homestand - and Nashville would prefer a better effort from start to finish.
“Just play with pride…no matter what happens throughout the rest of the year,” McCarron said. “I think you always have to have strong leadership in the locker room, strong commitment, and continue to just try to get better. As a team, I don't think we've really played too many full 60 minute games this year. I think it's been a real challenge for us. It's been a grind, mentally and physically. I think we can come up, find a way to play 60 full minutes and make our fans proud no matter the outcome of the game. They just want to see you work hard and compete and play to the best of your ability. If we can do that on Thursday, I think we'll be happy with ourselves.”
Notes:
Forward Kieffer Bellows made his Nashville debut on Tuesday and registered one shot and two hits in 6:40 of ice time. Bellows became the 10th player in franchise history to wear No. 26 and joined Bubba Berenzweig, Phil Crowe, Wade Brookbank, Steve Sullivan, Matt Hendricks, Mark Arcobello, Harry Zolnierczyk, Daniel Carr & Philip Tomasino.
Mark Jankowski did not dress for the Predators on Tuesday and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Defenseman Jake Livingstone was a healthy scratch.
Nashville’s four-game homestand concludes on Thursday when they welcome the Winnipeg Jets to Bridgestone Arena for Hockey Fights Cancer Night.
