Preds Start Strong But Finish Homestand with Loss to Panthers

Eeli Tolvanen gave the Predators an ideal start, but Nashville ultimately fell to the Florida Panthers, 6-2, on Saturday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena. The result sees the Preds conclude their five-game homestand with a three-game skid and pushes their overall record to 10-14-0.
The Predators knew they needed a better start on Saturday, and they got that with a 10-0 lead in shots and a 1-0 advantage on the scoreboard less than halfway through the opening period, but the Panthers clawed their way back into the game and eventually pulled away.

"We go down in the third period, and then all of a sudden we're playing better," Preds Captain Roman Josi said. "We need to play like that [the whole game]. It's something we talk about a lot… We want to have a good start, we want to play like that for 60 minutes, and for some reason, we're not doing that right now, so that's why we're not winning hockey games. We're not playing consistent enough."
"Everyone in the room cares, and that's why Roman is as emotional as he is," Predators Head Coach John Hynes said. "It's something that we address with our guys. Guys are working and guys are trying, and it's a situation where we have to try to help him have more success.

"And as a group, there has to be urgency in the game, and then there has to be execution. That's our job as coaches and players to get better, and not just always better, but more consistent [too]."
Tolvanen's goal came on the power play - his fourth overall of the season and third with the man advantage - and it gave Nashville a 1-0 lead just 5:46 into the contest. Filip Forsberg picked up the primary assist on the play for his 200th career helper, the seventh player in Preds franchise history to reach the milestone.

However, just before the first frame was complete, Aaron Ekblad evened the score when he beat Pekka Rinne, and Florida tallied three more times in the second period, including a pair from Noel Acciari, to hold a 4-1 lead through 40 minutes.
Viktor Arvidsson got the Preds to within a pair when he scored early in the third period, but Acciari's third goal of the day was one of two more goals the Panthers added in the final frame to finish the afternoon.

"We're frustrated with the way we're playing right now, and we need to find a way to get out of this together," Josi said. "It's obviously not the way we want to play. I have a lot of belief in this room, but we need to figure it out really quickly. And especially on this road trip, we need to figure it out quickly. Everybody's got to look in the mirror. I've got to look in the mirror, I've got to be better and everybody's got to be better. That's how we get out of it as a team."
A season-long, eight-game road trip begins tomorrow in Dallas (at 7 p.m. CT) and the Predators recognize it's a stretch that will very likely define their season.
"It's a long road trip. There's a lot of games, but there's a game tomorrow against Dallas and we didn't get the job done the last two nights against Florida," Hynes said. "We have another opportunity here tomorrow against Dallas, that's one of these teams that's in that mix… We have to take it day by day and game by game and not look at the long road trip, but you have to take each individual opponent and each game and then find ways to win."

Notes:
Prior to Saturday's game, the Preds placed forward Matt Duchene on injured reserve, and he'll miss 3-5 weeks with a lower-body injury. They also recalled forward Mathieu Olivier and defenseman Alexandre Carrier from the taxi squad. Forward Michael McCarron was reassigned to the taxi squad, and forward Tanner Jeannot was reassigned to Chicago (AHL) from the taxi squad.
Forward Yakov Trenin was Nashville's lone scratch on Saturday afternoon.
With their homestand complete, the Preds will embark on an eight-game road trip that begins Sunday night in Dallas for a single meeting against the Stars. Nashville will then travel to Carolina, Tampa Bay, Florida and back to Dallas over the next two weeks.