Frustrations boil over for Nashville Predators in ugly loss to Florida Panthers
In a season full of ugly performances, the Nashville Predators may have outdone themselves on Thursday night against the Florida Panthers .
The Predators (4-9-1) were outmatched in almost every way by the Panthers (10-3-1) in a 6-2 loss at Amerant Bank Arena, something that is becoming somewhat of a trend for this team. In fact, much of what occurred on the ice was a repeat of what's gone wrong in the first 13 games for Nashville.
First, they faced another 2-0 deficit, which came just over five minutes into the game, after goals by Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk. It was the eighth time this season the Predators have started with a multi-goal deficit.
Then, as the Panthers continued to pour on goals, the Predators managed very few shots: they finished with only 18 in the game, including just seven in the third period. Most of these were not a worry for Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, either − at even strength, Nashville had only five high danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick .
Scott Wedgewood, starting for the resting Juuse Saros, was able to stop only 28 of 34 shots. Goaltending for Nashville had been better of late, but it was a disappointment on Thursday.
The Predators also let their emotions boil over in the third period, getting involved in post-whistle aggressions in an attempt to wrench control of the game. At one point, three Predators players occupied the box following a fracas between Luke Schenn and Tkachuk.
Nashville finished with a season-high 24 penalty minutes, with Schenn's eight leading the team. The parade to the penalty box ostensibly ended the game early, as the Predators had no time to ice their key attacking players to mount a comeback.
Even the Predators' penalty kill, a relative strength through 13 games, allowed two power play goals for the first time all season.
Anyone looking for positives can point to Steven Stamkos' third power play goal of the season and Juuso Parssinen scoring his third goal in as many games. But the game was so tilted in favor of Florida, it's hard to feel good about anything that happened for the Predators on Thursday.
STAMKOS: Nashville Predators make one promising change with Steven Stamkos in loss vs Capitals
The Predators return home to face the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network).
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at . Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, . Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page .
