Bennett has 2 points, Panthers defeat Predators

NASHVILLE -- Sam Bennett had a goal and an assist for the Florida Panthers in a 4-1 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.

Aleksander Barkov had two assists and Spencer Knight made 18 saves for the Panthers (35-21-3), who have won three of their past four. Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk missed his second consecutive game because of a lower-body injury.

“We’re not really thinking about patterns, trends, streaks or whatever,” Knight said. “We just try to bring the game that we want to play every night, and that’s all we’re really focused on. It’s not really like a sort of game where if we lose it’s like ‘Oh, we can’t lose again.’ Like obviously we don’t want to, but it’s possible. But if you go out and bring good habits every single day, as [Panthers coach Paul Maurice] says ‘Win or learn.’ I think that’s the focus we have.”

Michael McCarron scored for the Predators (20-30-7), who have lost two in a row after winning their previous two. Juuse Saros made 21 saves.

“You don’t even really know what to say anymore as far as the overall team game,” Predators defenseman Luke Schenn said. “Nothing’s easy, obviously. I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of a group where you literally can’t score goals. And then obviously sometimes you’re giving up a lot. Our defensive game is not there, but at least you catch the odd break and get the puck in the net. It’s been hard to come by.”

Predators defenseman Roman Josi was boarded by Bennett in the second period. The Nashville captain did not play in the third period and was being evaluated for an upper-body injury.

“I know [Bennett] is an honest, hard player,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “I just thought it was a little reckless. I thought it was a very vulnerable position that [Josi] was in that close to the boards, head first. The League will look at it.”

Bennett gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 1:23 of the first period on a pass from the slot by Sam Reinhart on the power play. Reinhart took a pass from Barkov, cut to the middle of the ice and found Bennett on Saros’ blocker side.

Justin Sourdif gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead at 4:21 of the second period on a give-and-go play with Jesper Boqvist. It was Sourdif’s first NHL goal in his fourth game.

“I guess as a little kid you always think about how you’re going to score your first NHL goal,” Sourdif said. “I mean is it going to be a rebound? Is it going to go off your shin pads? A shot off the rush? To have it go in for me tonight was pretty cool. It was a really nice pass by Jesper, and it’s one I’ll remember forever. I was super excited.”

McCarron scored for the Predators to make it 2-1 at 4:30 of the third period on a rebound of his own backhand shot in the crease.

Gustav Forsling gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead at 9:02 on a wrist shot from along the boards that deflected off of Predators forward Ryan O'Reilly.

Mackie Samoskevich made it 4-1 at 15:34 on a forehand-to-backhand deke in the slot on a pass from Bennett.

“I thought we played fast offensively,” Maurice said. “We got more shots blocked than I’d like, but they’re a good shot-blocking team. There’s a whole lot of offense that we just didn’t get a handle on. It wasn’t a lack of compete or effort. We just had some strange bounces because we were in alone a little bit close to the net, and then I thought our reloads were really good because we knocked a lot of pucks back on them when they were creating a rush.”

NOTES: Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen did not travel to Nashville for the game because he and his wife are expecting a child. … Predators forward Mark Jankowski did not play because of an upper-body injury.