Preds Conclude Homestand with Loss to Panthers

Too little, too late.
The Nashville Predators rallied in the third period, but they were unable to overcome a slow start as they fell to the Florida Panthers by a 4-2 final on Saturday night. It's the second straight loss for the Preds as they conclude their only homestand in the month of January.
A record hockey crowd of 17,716 at Bridgestone Arena saw the Predators surrender a 3-0 lead before scoring twice in the first 3:23 of the third period, but the Panthers had the jump from the opening puck drop, and that ultimately made the difference.

"It wasn't good enough, and a lot of our problems stem from our starts," Preds center Nick Bonino said. "We feel games out, don't compete enough right away, and then we have to play catch up. When we turn it on, we're really hard to play with, but in this League it's too little to late sometimes."
"It's a loss against a team that played last night and traveled and came into our building and took it to us for the first part of the game," Preds forward Austin Watson said. "We pushed at the end, but that start and the way we're dipping our toe in the water in back-to-back home games, it's not good enough."
Aaron Ekblad gave the visitors the lead less than five minutes into the contest when he blasted home his ninth of the season on the power play, and Frank Vatrano made it 2-0 after one period.

Early in the second stanza, Vincent Trocheck took advantage of a neutral-zone turnover a beat Juuse Saros on the breakaway to put the Panthers ahead by three, but the Predators began to get quality chances before the period was out, a sign there was a push coming.
Indeed, Bonino beat James Reimer at 2:45 of the third, and Watson scored less than a minute later, but that was as close as the Preds got before the Panthers got their fourth and final tally of the night to seal it.

"It was more the start for me more than anything," Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. "I think there were a lot of chances in the second. In the third, we came out and pushed, but fell short going through the third period when they scored the fourth one. For me, it was the start, the first period that led to the loss."
From here, the Predators visit Colorado and Vegas for two more contests before they'll go eight days without a game thanks to the NHL All-Star Weekend and the NHL-mandated bye week. It will be a chance for Nashville to not only correct what did them in on Saturday, but also an opportunity to get back on track before the hiatus.
"I think it's important to fix these problems right away, no matter what we have coming up," Watson said. "It's not fun for us to play this way, especially at home. We had an opportunity to win a couple big games and unfortunately, we didn't. The good thing though is that we do play 82 games and we have a chance to bounce back before we take that time off."
"That's all in the attitude," Laviolette said of the slow start. "That's what you bring to the rink and bring to the game. It has to be better."

Notes:
Predators forward Colin Blackwell made his NHL debut on Saturday night after being recalled earlier in the day. The 25-year-old registered two hits and won three faceoffs in 11:29 of ice time.
Nashville centerman Ryan Johansen served the first of his two-game suspension for high-sticking.
With the January home schedule now complete, the Predators will head on the road for two, beginning on Monday afternoon in Colorado before a stop in Vegas on Wednesday.