The Florida Panthers got rocked to open the preseason, dropping both games in a road doubleheader against the Nashville Predators in Music City.
Nashville smoked the Cats by a 5-0 count in the matinee. Eric Haula scored two goals and former Panther Jonathan Marchessault and defenseman Brady Skjei each collected two assists. Ryder Rolston, Reid Schaefer and David Edstrom also scored for the Predators.
Veteran AHLer Brandon Bussi started the game for the Panthers and acquitted himself well, stopping 17 of 19 shots, before giving way to prospect Kirill Gerasimyuk. Gerasimyuk had a rough go of it, surrendering three goals on just seven shots faced.
Kai Schwindt and defenseman Phip Waugh led the team with three shots on goal.
Florida put up a better fight in the nightcap. After Brett Chorske opened the scoring with an unassisted goal 7:44 after opening puck drop, the Predators reeled off four consecutive goals, with Cole Smith, Steven Stamkos, Filip Forsberg and Matthew Wood doing the honors.
Mike Benning lit the lamp, with the assists going to Jack Studnicka and Noah Gregor to halve the deficit 21 seconds into the third. Benning ripped a shot home from the right circle, unassisted, 6:18 later to pull the Cats within a goal, but they would fail to come up with the equalizer and eventually Ryan O’Reilly iced it with a late empty-netter.
Daniil Tarasov spilt the game with prospect Cooper Black. Tarasov stopped 15 of 18 shots while the towering Black continued to impress, finishing with 11 saves on 12 shots.
Nothing to be concerned about here. The Panthers didn’t play any of their regulars, choosing to get a long look at the organizational depth, prospects and players in camp on professional tryouts. As you can see from the recap, the Predators, wanting to put on a show for the home crowd, dotted their roster with NHLers, who helped make the difference in both games.
The Cats will return to Ft. Lauderdale and continue camp before facing the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday in Raleigh.