Preds Sweep Preseason Doubleheader Against Panthers

Two games, two wins.

The Nashville Predators kicked off their preseason schedule with the annual doubleheader against the Florida Panthers on Sunday at Bridgestone Arena, and the hosts sent their fans home happy.

The Preds topped the Panthers by a 5-0 final in the first outing of the day, followed by a 5-3 triumph in the night cap.

Erik Haula tallied twice in the first win, while Ryder Rolston, Reid Schaefer and David Edstrom also found the back of the net. Nashville goaltenders Justus Annunen and Matt Murray combined to stop 19 shots for the shutout.

In the second matchup, Cole Smith, Steven Stamkos, Filip Forsberg, Matthew Wood and Ryan O’Reilly all scored for Nashville, and Wood added two helpers for a successful conclusion to a day that finished with 40 content Preds players across the two games.

“I think there was some good and a little bit of bad at different times, and it's what you expected out of these games,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “But way more good than bad, for sure.”

Neither game was perfect - and that’s how things play out at this time of the year - but there was still plenty to like.

The new-look line of Haula centering Jonathan Marchessault and Michael Bunting showed well in the first game, and Wood impressed while playing alongside Forsberg and Brady Martin, the latter of whom made his preseason debut after Nashville selected him fifth overall in last June’s Draft.

“He looked great,” Forsberg said of Martin. “I mean, he's 18 years old. Doesn't look that one bit. I think he plays the game the right way, obviously, same as I said. [A] couple turnovers that he had…same as me. But I think that's setting a bad example for the guy. So, I need to clean that up a bit more. But I thought he looked great.”

Wood’s highlight of the night came on Nashville’s second goal in the later outing as he deked around defenders on his way to the net before sending a perfect pass to Stamkos, and No. 91 buried the feed to bring the crowd to their feet.

“I thought he looked really confident when he came up, even last year,” Forsberg said of Wood. “I thought he looked great…in the games he played, obviously contributed a lot. Those games [at the end of last season], they didn't mean that much for us. But I thought he looked great. I think he's looking really good so far in training camp as well, and I'm really excited to see what comes from it.”

“I definitely have a lot more confidence than I had at the end of last season - kind of getting my feet wet,” Wood said. “That's kind of been a pattern of my career. Getting a little confidence is really big for me. The mental side of the game, it’s something that I've really worked on, and I'm going to try to continue to work on it.”

With a few days of Training Camp and the first two preseason games complete, the Preds will continue to build toward Opening Night, now less than three weeks away. And while these two games don’t mean anything in the standings, they still carry plenty of weight in other ways - plus, winning always feels great, no matter the setting.

“Just keep growing,” Brunette said of the focus as camp continues. “I think we have some objectives and some goals here through Training Camp, and we met some of them today. It's a work in progress, and we're going to keep trying to build and grow on that and kind of stack another good day, hopefully Tuesday, and keep stacking until we get into the regular season. So, it was a good step in a lot of different ways.

“Some things to clean up in these exhibition games are always hard. It's hard for veteran guys to play, especially these early ones. I thought they all worked hard. They all brought their thing. You respect that, because I've been in a lot of places where, at different times last year, I don't know if we respected these games, and I really thought we respected it tonight.”

Notes:

Brady Skjei, Jonathan Marchessault and Michael McCarron served as alternate captains in the first game of the day; Captain Roman Josi skated in the second contest along with Steven Stamkos and Ryan O’Reilly as alternates.

Preds defenseman Nic Hague left Sunday’s second game after taking a hit and did not return. There was no update on Hague’s condition following the game.

Predators Training Camp continues this week as Nashville hosts Tampa Bay on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena for another preseason tilt. The Gold Star Showcase presented by Ticketmaster comes Thursday in Clarksville at F&M Bank Arena with an intrasquad scrimmage before a back-to-back preseason set on the road in Tampa and Carolina next weekend.