Preds Taking Positives from Preseason Doubleheader in Florida

A day trip to Florida for the first preseason games since 2019 saw the Nashville Predators fall to the Panthers in both outings of their doubleheader on Sunday afternoon and evening in the Sunshine State, but those outings still provided a productive day in many facets.
The Preds and Panthers went back and forth in Game 1 before Florida ultimately won by a 5-4 final in overtime, and they took the second contest by a 3-1 score to complete the day.
The exhibition contests were Nashville's first games since the start of Training Camp last week, and although the results on the scoreboard didn't turn in favor of the Preds, there were still positives to take as the group heads back to Tennessee with plenty of preseason preparation still ahead.

"I thought in Game 1 we played a real strong, competitive game," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. "As we talked to players after the game, a lot of guys had really good showings. I thought collectively, as a team, we did a lot of good things. You can see, really, for both games, a lot of the things that we had worked on in practice the first few days, and guys felt comfortable with it and we looked pretty solid in that area.
"I'd say overall I thought there were a lot of good showings, which is what we wanted. I think the players really continue to do what they did the first couple days of practice; very competitive, good pace, and you can see some identity to our game coming through, and the areas that we worked on, we felt we were good in those areas."
The pair of games allowed Hynes and his staff the opportunity to see 40 of the 55 players on Nashville's Training Camp roster in a game setting just days after camp began, and that evaluation is invaluable, especially at this juncture.
"It was a really good evaluation," Hynes said. "I'm proud of the way we worked and I thought both groups played well. Great evaluation, and now there's some areas we know we can continue to work on this week, and all positives from there."
After a goalless opening period in the first game, Nashville tallied twice in the second, and it was Tanner Jeannot who scored the first Preds preseason marker since 2019. Jeannot, who served as an assistant captain on the afternoon, collected a rebound in tight and went upstairs. Then, Yakov Trenin made it 2-0 for the visitors when he sniped a shot from the left circle and into the twine - while shorthanded - for his second point on the day.

Florida made it a 2-1 game before the middle frame was out, and Frank Vatrano's second of the day evened the score early in the third. That was the first of five goals the teams combined for in the final period, and Rem Pitlick tied the game at 3-3 on the power play with a one-timer from the right circle midway through the period.
The Panthers took the lead once more as Vatrano's third of the day came on the man advanteage, but Jeannot followed it up with his second goal of the game to force OT. Sam Bennett won the contest for the home team just 46 seconds into the extra session, and the Preds and Panthers still held a shootout that saw Cody Glass and Pitlick tally for the Nashville to end the first get together.
"I thought all the guys battled hard," Jeannot said of the first outing. "The first games are always a little bit tough trying to get everyone on the same page playing the same way, same systems and everything, but I thought the compete level was there. Everyone fought hard the entire game, and it's a good start to build on."
Game 2 on the day saw Egor Afanasyev pot the lone goal for the Preds on a slick backhand to forehand move in front, while Florida added three of their own as they faced Nashville goaltender David Rittich, who turned aside 27 saves in the loss.
Even with the result, Preds forward Nick Cousins echoed his coach's sentiment on the workday and what he was able to get out of the experience.
"You can train as much as you want, but until you get in the game action, that's kind of really where you can tell where your conditioning is, but I thought the guys battled hard," Cousins said. "I really liked our game. Obviously, their power play has been together for a while, so they kind of know where each other are [and they scored two goals that way], but I thought 5-on-5 we were probably the better team. It's the first game, everybody's trying to get their timing back and whatnot, but overall, pretty happy the way we played."
From here, Preds players will enjoy a well-earned day off after three days of on-ice work back in Nashville prior to the doubleheader, but they'll be back at it on Tuesday as camp continues. The lessons learned on Sunday will be utilized in those sessions, and there's no better time to find ways to improve day by day.
"What we were looking to do is just keep that intensity up and have everyone playing the right way," Jeannot said. "We know the identity this team wants to have, and I thought we did that really well. Everyone down to the man played a solid game, and everyone's going to obviously be looking at what they can improve on, but that's all we can do every single night is just see what we can improve on for the next night. Everyone's going to do that, and it's going to be an awesome year."
Notes:
Luke Kunin, Ben Harpur and Tanner Jeannot served as assistant captains for the Preds in Game 1 of the doubleheader, while Colton Sissons, Nick Cousins and Mark Borowiecki each wore an "A" in Game 2.
The Preds will have a day off Monday before returning to the ice and Training Camp practices on Tuesday in Nashville. Then, the group will travel to Tampa on Thursday to face the Lightning at AMALIE Arena as the preseason schedule continues.