The Florida Panthers recent swoon continued in a disappointing 3-0 shutout loss to the Nashville Predators at Amerant Bank Arena.
Kevin Lankinen made 33 saves to post his first shutout of the season as the Panthers failed to light the lamp for the second time in the last three games.
On the offensive end, Filip Forsberg had a night, setting up Gustav Nyquist’s game-opening goal in the first period and then scoring a power-play goal in the second and clinching it with a backhander with 5:41 left in the third.
Ryan O’Reilly assisted on two goals, and Nyquist, Tyson Barrie and Roman Josi also had helpers for the Predators, who have picked up at least a point in a franchise-record sixteen straight games.
Sergei Bobrovsky was strong in defeat, stopping 34 shots for the Panthers, who were without top center Aleksander Barkov.
This is the first time this season that Florida has lost three straight games in regulation.
Thanks to the New York Rangers 5-2 win over Boston, the Cats remain three points behind the Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division, with two games in hand.
Florida needs to get off to faster start and finding the back of the net again when they pay a visit to the Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Claws & Fangs
- The Panthers were shut out for the eighth time this season, with three of those coming since February 10. They have fallen behind by three goals in each of their last four games. PoMo, we have a problem.
- Sticking to shutouts, the last time Kevin Lankinen had a one it also came against the Cats. He blanked them on March 25, 2021 as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks.
- Anton Lundell and Matthew Tkachuk each finished with a game-high four shots on goal. Lundell went 8-for-13 (61.5%) on faceoffs.
- Thanks to his second period marker, Filip Forsberg became the second player in franchise history to hit 70 power-play goals, joining defenseman Shea Weber, who scored 80 before he was traded to Montreal.
- Uvis Balinskis filled in for the suspended Dmitry Kulikov, playing in his first NHL game since December 14. Balinskis logged 15:25 TOI and was credited with one shot and two hits.
- The Panthers and Predators split the season-series. Read more about it at On The Forecheck.