5 Takeaways: Panthers Can't Solve Saros in Loss to Predators

SUNRISE, Fla. - The Panthers couldn't solve Juuse Saros.
Stopping 40 of the 41 shots that came his way, the Predators goaltender was nearly infallible as the Panthers saw their winning streak snapped at four games with a 2-1 loss on Thursday night.

"There were some good things tonight, but it was obviously not enough," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville. "[Nashville] worked hard. They're playing better than we saw earlier in the year."
While the Panthers have treated their fans to more than a few amazing comebacks this season, Quenneville said after this morning's skate that the goal for the second half would be to be to try and score some early goals, play a little bit more with the lead and give everyone's heart a rest.
Managing to execute that game plan even in defeat, Jonathan Huberdeau broke the ice and gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 18:38 of the first period when he took a saucer pass from Patric Hornqvist and then slipped a backhand shot past an outstretched Saros to open up the scoring.
If not for Noel Acciari, however, things could've been quite different.
Forced to kill off a dangerous 5-on-3 power play just a few minutes before Huberdeau's goal, the man they call "Cookie" made sure the Cats didn't crumble. Putting his body on the line, he blocked not one, not two, not three, but four shots to keep Nashville from getting on the board.
"It's insane," Huberdeau said of the selfless sequence. "I think Acch is the type of the guy that's going to do everything for our team. Four blocked shots in a row, that's impressive. He's a guy that works hard, plays through injuries. He's the type of the guy that wants to play for the team."
Unfortunately, that early goal would the only one for the Panthers.
Evening things up, the Predators finally managed to get one past Sergei Bobrovsky when Calle Jarnkrok batted a puck out of middair from the slot straight into the top right corner of the cage to make it a 1-1 game at 7:25 of the second period.
Back at it once again just 1:17 into the third period, Jarnkrok then scored what would go on to hold up as the game-winning goal when, taking advantage of some miscommunication by the Cats, he took a pass from Mikael Granlund and touched the twine to send Nashville ahead 2-1.
Despite the loss, the Panthers are still sitting pretty in second place in the Central Division with a record of 19-6-4. The Predators, meanwhile, have climbed to sixth after improving to 13-16-1.
"The games are going to get harder here," Quenneville said. "You've got Nashville playing for their lives now to try and get into the race and be a part of the playoff picture. Everybody knows the value of the points going forward… Every night, you need everybody pushing. Every shift becomes more magnified and important. That's what the regular season's going to be like."
Here are five takeaways from Thursday's loss in Sunrise…

1. BLOCK PARTY

It's not only goals that can change momentum in games.
Case and point: the effort from Acciari on this penalty kill.
With the Panthers sent to a 5-on-3 penalty kill after a pair of curious calls, it's safe to say that the hard-nosed forward briefly turned into whatever hockey's version of Superman is. Within a single shift on the kill, he laid out to block four shots and take the wind out of Nashville's sails.
"A huge kill for us, 5-on-3 for over a minute," Quenneville said. "I think on some teams you've had one, two and three blocks on a shift, but he had four. That was pretty amazing stuff."

After going 8-for-8 during their recent two-game sweep over the Blackhawks, the Panthers continued their trend of perfection the penalty kill with a 3-for-3 showing against the Predators.
"It gives you a boost of energy, a boost of motivation and emotions," Bobrovsky said of the club's penalty killers. "Great to see them sacrifice their body because they have no gear at all. Basically, they put their whole body in the bombs in there. It's great to see how hard they work."

2. PUNISHING THE PREDS

The Predators are probably getting a little tired of seeing No. 11 on the ice.
After Hornqvist sauced a pass over a sliding defender, Huberdeau pulled Saros to the left side of the net before pulling the puck back to his right and sending a backhand shot across the goal line to put the Panthers on top 1-0 with 1:22 remaining in the first period.
In five games against Nashville this season, Huberdeau has scored six goals.
"A good defensive play in our zone gave us a chance to get a 2-on-1," Huberdeau said of the scoring play. "Horny made a great pass, a great saucer pass. I made a little move and put it in."

Florida's scoring leader with 35 points (11 goals, 24 assists), Huberdeau has now racked up 11 points (three goals, eight assists) over his last eight games. Of his 35 points, 10 have come at the expense of the Predators, including his career-high five-point performance back on Feb. 4.

3. GOTTA BE THE HAIR

You can chalk up another one for MacKenzie Weegar.
With the secondary assist on Huberdeau's goal, the 27-year-old defenseman has now notched at least one point in each of the last six games. During that career-long streak, he's posted one goal and seven assists while also playing shutdown defense on the blue line every single night.
"I'm just trying to chip in and make simple plays up to the forwards," Weegar said.
Needing just 29 games to match the career-high 18 points he posted in 2019-20, 17 of those have come at even-strength, which places him second among NHL blueliners in that category.
"I think the hair's going to stick around for a while," Weegar said of his lucky flowing locks.

4. SAROS IS SHARP

Whatever the opposite of rusty is, this was it.
Out of action since suffering an upper-body injury on March 2, Saros looked no worse for wear in his return to the crease, turning aside 40 of 41 shots to lead the Predators past the Panthers.
Of those saves, eight originated from high-danger areas on the ice, per NaturalStatTrick.com. Overall, although the Panthers peppered Saros with plenty of rubber, Quenneville believes his players could've done a better job creating traffic to generate some offense around the crease.
"We might've had pucks at the net, but not people," Quenneville said.
With the win, Saros improved to 2-4-0 in his career against Florida.

5. MATCHING SAVES

Manning the cage opposite Saros, Bobrovsky also had another strong showing tonight.
Although he saw his personal winning streak come to an end at six games, the 32-year-old veteran looked very steady between the pipes once again while turning aside 25 of 27 shots.
"I think we gave up a little too many chances tonight," Huberdeau said. "We were lucky that it was a 2-1 game. Bob made some really good saves and kept us in the game."
On quite the run, Bobrovsky has gone 8-2-1 over his last 11 appearances. In that span, he's stopped 298 of the 324 shots that have come his way for an outstanding .920 save percentage.
"It's obviously sad that we lose, but I thought we played a good solid game," Bobrovsky said. "In the first [period] there was a great penalty kill, and there was good puck movement in the second period in their zone. We still had lots of good things. It is what it is. We lose one, but we have to put it behind us and get ready for the next one."
The Panthers will host the Predators for a rematch on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET in Sunrise.