Panthers recover, defeat Predators in shootout

NASHVILLE --Sam Montembeault made 25 saves through overtime and three more in the shootout for the Florida Panthers in a 3-2 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.

Vincent Trocheck scored the only goal in the shootout for Florida (3-2-3), which has a point in five straight games (2-0-3).
"We didn't play our best throughout some of the periods of the game, but we stuck with it," Panthers forward Brett Connolly said. "We knew we were going to have to grind it out tonight, and we did. We stuck with it and we got the two points. We need points right now. We need to get some wins."
WATCH: [All Panthers vs. Predators highlights]
Kyle Turris and Roman Josi scored in the third period, and Pekka Rinne made 28 saves for Nashville (4-3-1), which has lost three of its past four games.
"We battled all night," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "We had a difficult time actually getting the puck on net. A lot of blocks and a lot of pressure coming as we were trying to approach the net. You're heading into the third period and you're down two goals, give our guys a lot of credit battling back and tying it up. … I thought we played hard in the third to come back and get a point."

Josi cut it to 2-1 at 9:07 on a one-timer from the right point following a face-off win by Matt Duchene.
"I think we had a lot of chances and a lot of zone time," Josi said. "The one thing, I think, when they had their chances for a while, they were pretty good chances. Like really good chances. That wasn't great, but other than that, we created a lot of chances and had a lot of zone time. We've just got to score earlier than the third."
Turris tied it 2-2 at 13:30 on the power play. After receiving a stretch pass from Ryan Ellis, who had two assists for the fourth straight game, Turris skated into the zone and got around Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar before shooting over Montembeault's left shoulder.

Montembeault stopped Duchene, Ryan Johansen and Turris in the shootout.
"I felt really good today," Montembeault said. "Going into the shootout, counting last year, I went into a shootout in [three] of my last [four] starts and haven't won in a shootout in almost two years, so it was important for me to win this one."
Denis Malgin gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 13:33 of the second period on the power play, taking a cross-ice pass from Trocheck and beating Rinne from low in the left face-off circle.
"I like how [Malgin] comes through the middle and he's got some speed, and all of the sudden you go through coverage and he's in the zone, and the options open up for him," Florida coach Joel Quenneville said. "But he sees the plays well. I think he's got some real speed with the puck, and I think that's dangerous."

Connolly extended the lead to 2-0 at 19:09 of the second on a wrist shot from the point that got through traffic.
Panthers center Aleksander Barkov left the game in the first period because of an undisclosed injury. There was no update on his status.

They said it

"[Goalie Sam Montembeault has] worked so hard this year. He had a great first two periods. A couple of unlucky goals, but he played well and kept us in the game early when we needed him to be good tonight. There was a lot of Grade A chances on their end, and he was there to bail us out." -- Panthers forward Brett Connolly
"It was really good. Kyle [Turris] was good. The line was dangerous. I thought all three of them played well together, especially [Matt Duchene] moving over to the wing. He had played center last year and through training camp for us. He has played a lot of wing, so the move was a little more natural for him. I thought the line was pretty good." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette on putting Turris on a line with Duchene and Mikael Granlund

Need to know

Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau's point streak ended at six games (three goals, five assists). … Nashville forward Filip Forsberg missed his second consecutive game because of a lower-body injury.

What's next

Panthers: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-F, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)
Predators:Host the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, PRIME, NHL.TV)