RECAP: Panthers 5, Predators 0 (Game 1)

SUNRISE, Fla. – Eetu Luostarinen and Mackie Samoskevich each scored twice, Oliver Ekman-Larsson tallied three assists, and the Panthers opened up their preseason slate with a 5-0 beatdown of the Predators in Game 1 of their doubleheader at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday.

"It was a fun one, for sure," Samoskevich said. "I had a blast out there."

Making his first start for the Panthers since Feb. 18, Spencer Knight showed no signs of rust between the pipes. Put to the test right away, he kept the Predators off the board early when he shut down Fedor Svechkov on a breakaway less than two minutes after the puck had dropped.

"It was good to get back into game action," said Knight, who's gone 32-17-6 over his first three seasons with Florida. "I think after a while practices kind of get repetative. You need to play the game, competative games, to actually get a feel. I think practice is good to develop skills, habits and work hard, but the game action is where you'll really get better."

On the power play, the Panthers broke the ice when William Lockwood, who was inked a two-year, two-way contract in July, got a piece of Mike Reilly’s blast from the point and tipped the screaming rubber past Nashville goalie Kevin Lankinen and into the cage to make it 1-0 at 5:56.

Playing in the first NHL preseason game of his career, Samoskevich, who was selected by the Panthers in the first round (24^th overall) in 2021, earned the secondary assist on the goal.

Back on the man advantage soon after, the Panthers doubled their lead when Ekman-Larsson, a newcomer on defense, set Luostarinen free on a breakaway with a stunning stretch pass. With no one in front of him, Luostarinen lifted a shot over Lankinen’s blocker to make it 2-0 at 7:00.

"That's an unreal pass from him," Luostarinen said. "He can see little passes like that."

Earlier this week, head coach Paul Maurice mentioned that Ekman-Larsson, who's tallied 161 power-play points in his career, could possibly be quarterbacking the top unit on Opening Night.

Refusing to be pushed around – even in the preseason – the Panthers also showed off their physicality throughout the opening 20 minutes. During one incident in particular, Anton Lundell clocked Predators rookie Kalan Lind with a clean right hook as retribution for a cross-check.

The fans, of course, loved it.

With 10:45 left in the second period, both teams changed goaltenders. Ludovic Waeber came in for the Panthers, while Troy Grosenick entered for the Predators. Finishing with a clean sheet in his first taste of real action, Knight stopped all 13 shots he faced before heading to the bench.

Finding the back of the net for the third time on the power play, Luostarinen closed out the second period on a high note for the Panthers when he followed up on a shot from captain Aleksander Barkov and sent the rebound past Grosenick to increase the lead to 3-0 at 19:13.

"A lot of fun to get out there after the all the practices," Luostarinen said.

Armed with an all-word shot, Samoskevich, who scored 20 goals last season at Michigan, showed he could also find success in the dirty areas when he got to the front of the net and tipped in a shot from Gustav Forsling to extend Florida’s lead to 4-0 at 2:53 of the third period.

Not done there, Samoskevich scored again – this time on the power play – to make it 5-0 at 17:08.

"Having my first game out there was pretty special, and to have it go like that is even more special," Samoskevich said.

CATS QUOTES

"I really like playing with him. He's a fast, shifty guy. He can shoot the puck, like you saw." -- Luostarinen on Samoskevich

"The building's pretty big, so it kind of gets into your head a little bit, but I loved it. I didn't get too nervous. I like to stay pretty calm before games." -- Samoskevich on playing his first game at Amerant Bank Arena

"The fans have always been so supportive, so passionate. Every time I have an interaction with them, they're just awesome. Coming back and hearing them is pretty nice." -- Knight on playing in front of Panthers fans again

WHAT’S NEXT?

Who’s ready go again?

The Panthers will host the Predators for Game 2 of their doubleheader at 6 p.m. ET.

Catch all the action at FloridaPanthers.com.