Ekblad sets Panthers record in win against Predators

NASHVILLE --Aaron Ekblad and Vincent Trocheck each had a goal and an assist for the Florida Panthers in a 4-2 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.

Frank Vatrano and Jared McCann scored, and James Reimer made a season-high 37 saves for Florida (19-20-8), which has won two consecutive games after losing seven in a row.
"Confidence, I think, is the No. 1 thing coming from these two games," Trocheck said. "We've obviously had a rough go here the first half of the season. With the team that we have, I think we definitely have the personnel here to win a lot of hockey games. I think we showed that last year. It's just a matter of us getting our confidence back and playing the way that we know how we can play."
WATCH: [All Panthers vs. Predators highlights]
Nick Bonino and Austin Watson each had a goal and an assist, and Juuse Saros made 26 saves for Nashville (28-18-4), which has lost two in a row and four of its past five (1-3-1)
"It was more the first (period) for me, I think more than anything," said Predators coach Peter Laviolette, who remained one win shy of 600 in the NHL. "I think in the second there was lots of chances. In the third we came out and pushed, but then fell short going through the third period when they scored the fourth one. But for me it was the start of the first period."
Ekblad gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 4:05 of the first period, scoring on a one-timer on the power play. With the goal, Ekblad passed Robert Svehla for most by a defenseman in Panthers history (62).
"Happy to get one on the power play," Ekblad said. "All systems go for us right now, and you can feel the fun in the room."
Vatrano made it 2-0 at 13:16. He received a pass on a rush from Ekblad and scored his 15th goal glove side from the top of the right circle.

Trocheck extended the lead to 3-0 at 2:59 of the second period on a breakaway. After Mattias Ekholm's pass was blocked in the neutral zone, Trocheck gathered the loose puck and got around Ryan Ellis before scoring five-hole.
"That's what we talked about, this team is really good at home," Trocheck said. "Anytime they get a hot start going, the fans get behind them and it's a tough team to beat. So having a hot start in this building is huge."
Trocheck has three points (one goal, two assists) in two games since returning after missing 27 games because of a fractured right ankle.
"It's huge," Ekblad said. "You can feel the 'fun' factor coming, too. He's a great leader and he likes to have fun in the dressing room. He likes to have fun on the ice. He's a battler, he's a warrior, so he adds just about everything to the game for us and you can tell."
Bonino scored for the Predators to make it 3-1 at 2:45 of the third period. He received a pass from Roman Josi and got Reimer to go down before tucking the puck inside the right post.

Watson scored 38 seconds later to cut it to 3-2, redirecting Bonino's initial shot through his legs five-hole on Reimer.
McCann made it 4-2 at 11:38, redirecting a pass from Colton Sceviour in the crease.

They said it

"Well, for our group, it does a lot. I mean, we were a fragile team. We came off our Western swing where we didn't get any wins. Although we played a couple of good games, we didn't have anything to show for it. So this team was in dire need of a guy and a momentum like [Vincent Trocheck] coming back and [Nick Bjugstad] coming back and putting some wins together. We've got one more before the break (for the All-Star Game). It's almost too bad the break is coming at this time when we're starting to turn the corner, but we were a great second half team last year, and hopefully we can do the same this year."-- Panthers coach Bob Boughner
"That's all attitude. That's what you bring to the rink and bring to the game. It's got to be better."-- Predators coach Peter Laviolette on how to correct slow starts

Need to know

Sceviour had two assists. … Predators forward Ryan Johansen served the first of a two-game suspension for high-sticking Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele in a 5-1 loss Thursday.

What's next

Panthers:Host the San Jose Sharks on Monday (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS, FS-F, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)
Predators: At the Colorado Avalanche on Monday (3 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SN, ALT, FS-TN, NHL.TV)