Forsberg Hat Trick Helps Preds to Sweep of Preseason Doubleheader

It may not be as sweet as a postseason sweep, but it still does the trick.
Five different skaters found the back of the net in the first matchup, and Filip Forsberg tallied a hat trick in the night cap, as the Nashville Predators defeated the Florida Panthers twice to take the doubleheader by finals of 5-0 and 5-3, respectively.
It was Forsberg's line, along with Ryan Johansen and Kevin Fiala, who led the way in the second outing, combining for all five goals and 13 points in total. Fiala finished with a goal and four helpers on the night.
It may be early, but it was quite a start for the Preds in their first game action since last spring.

"I always think it's always a good feeling when you leave a game with a win, no matter what the whether its an exhibition game or regular season," Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. "The wins are good, but a big part about training camp is the evaluation part of it and we got to see a lot of young players in here tonight. We mixed some of the young players with veteran players and watched them perform, so there's lots to go back and digest."
Calle Jarnkrok gave the Preds a 1-0 lead in the first game with a power-play marker in the first period, and then Anthony Bitetto found P.K. Subban for a one-time blast and a 2-0 advantage after 40 minutes.
In the final frame, forward Rocco Grimaldi converted on a deflection in front; defenseman Filip Pyrochta converted on a second try at the side of the net, and forward Frederick Gaudreau added one for good measure in the final minutes of the contest to give Nashville a convincing victory.
Goaltenders Juuse Saros (17 saves) and Thomas McCollum (10 saves) combined for the shutout on the afternoon to complete a solid showing to start the preseason.

"Honestly, I thought it was a full team effort," Grimaldi said. "All four lines did a good job, all of our defensemen, both goalies… A lot of guys were impressive and a lot of guys did their role and played it well."
"Our goalies played tremendous," Bitetto said. "It's the first preseason game and you're trying to get your timing down and your reads right and play physical, so I think it was a good effort out of everybody and we'll go from that."
The second outing of the trip saw the Panthers get a friendly bounce to take a 1-0 lead after one period, but Nashville's big names in the late lineup got going in the middle frame.
First, it was Forsberg who picked a corner during a 5-on-3 power play to even the score, and after Florida went up 2-1, Johansen capitalized off the rush by firing a one-timer into the back of the cage. Then, it was Fiala who took a feed in the slot to give Nashville their first lead of the night.

Forsberg added two more in the third period - one by cleaning up a Fiala shot that hit the post, and the finale into an empty net - to clinch a second victory on the evening and a banner night for Nashville's top trio in the game.
"It was fun," Forsberg said. "It's still very early for both teams, but I thought our line got going the longer the night went, and same with the team. I thought we played a pretty decent game and got going and earned this win."
As Laviolette said, it's now back to Nashville with plenty of evaluating to do before the Predators play next on Friday evening when the Tampa Bay Lightning come to town. The doubleheader provided the perfect look at a majority of the Preds roster in game action - and a tiny glimpse of what might still be coming down the line.
"It's terrific," Laviolette said of the doubleheader format."It's a chance to put a lot of young kids in the situations early in camp… Those young kids might not be there [later in camp], but it gives them an opportunity to play in an NHL game, an NHL jersey, skate with NHL players and show what they can do. To me, that's the best way to evaluate."

Notes:
Predators Video Coach Lawrence Feloney joined Laviolette and his staff behind the bench for the second game, a perfect chance to add an extra set of eyes to the game.
"Lawrence is so helpful to us," Laviolette said. "It's a great opportunity for him to come out and see a game live. We might do that some more, get him out on the ice more; he's a smart guy with a lot of knowledge and anything he can do to help us and make us better, we're willing to accept that."
The Predators will now head home for the next three days of training camp sessions before the Tampa Bay Lighting come to town to start a preseason home-and-home.