Panthers Drop Third Straight Game, Lose 3-0 to Predators

SUNRISE —Filip Forsberg scored twice and had three points for the Predators in their 3-0 win over the Panthers on Thursday night as Nashville set a franchise best 16-game point streak (14-0-2).  

Gustav Nyquist had the game winner and also picked up a pair of assists in the win. 

Nashville was great at bringing the pressure to Florida, especially in the first two periods, but their biggest advantage came in the net. 

Kevin Lankinen was stellar on Thursday, stopping all 33 shots he faced.

The Panthers have hit a bump in the road over the past week and a half —  dropping three consecutive games in regulation for the first time all season. 

They also found themselves down at least 3-0 in each of their last four games — getting shutout in two of those.

The Predators defense had the middle of the ice on lockdown — forcing the Panthers to work the outside when entering the zone.

Unfortunately for the Panthers — they couldn’t generate anything from the perimeter either. They also had 22 turnovers on the night. 

“It’s tough to get your legs going when you’re turning pucks over and you’re skating in the wrong direction,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. 

During this recent skid, the Panthers have slipped out of first place in the NHL and subsequently lost a few positions in the East. 

“It’s easy to be angry,” Maurice continued. “I would just say that I care about them (the team) and I got lots of faith in them. But we’re not going anywhere playing the game that we’re playing right now.”

With just 13 games left in the regular season, Florida trails Boston by three points for first place in the East and Atlantic (FLA has two games in hand)

“I think it’s just a matter of getting back to that grind that we have been playing with before,” Oliver Ekman-Larsson said. “Being a unit that’s five guys.”

Florida was missing Aaron Ekblad (lower-body) for a fourth-straight and Dmitry Kulikov, who served the first of his two game suspension on Thursday. Uvis Balinskis was called up from AHL Charlotte — playing in his first game with the Panthers since Dec. 14.

The Panthers were also without their captain Aleksander Barkov (lower-body), who was a game-time decision entering Thursday’s contest.

Florida will face the New York Rangers on Saturday. The Rangers have a two point lead on the Panthers in the Eastern Conference standings (FLA has one game in hand).