Nashville Predators: Penalties, empty net goal doom Predators in Game 1

The Nashville Predators took on the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of a preseason doubleheader, falling to their opponent 5 to 3.

The Florida Panthers won the game, 5-3, in a close matchup against the Nashville Predators in a matchup at Bridgestone Arena.

Game Recap

The Florida Panthers struck first in the game with a goal from Henrik Haapala at the 4:32 mark of the first period. The rest of the first period was a quiet one as neither team scored. Quite a difference than the second and third periods.

The Panthers struck again to start of the second period, moving their lead to 2-0. Cody McLeod struck first for the Nashville Predators as he scored on a goal dished out by P.K. Subban at the 13:08 mark.

The Predators tied the game up with a goal from Emil Pettersson, coming off assists from Viktor Arvidsson and Calle Jarnkrok.

The third period was a scoring frenzy, as four goals were scored in the period. The Predators were only responsible for one of those goals, unfortunately. The Panthers ended up taking a commanding 4-2 lead. Not much after the Panthers increased their lead, Arvidsson notched a goal at the 11:23 mark on a power play.

The Predators pulled Saros late to try to tie the game, but the Panthers capitalized on an empty net. The final score was five to three.

Game Stats

Juuse Saros was in net for the Predators during the first game of the doubleheader. He allowed four goals on 27 shot attempts from the Panthers, going for a save percentage of 0.852%.

P.K. Subban played a great game for the Predators, which is something the Predators are looking for out of him, especially early when Ryan Ellis will be out. Subban dished out two assists, tallied six shots on goal, and played a team high of 25:55 on ice.

To go along with a goal, newly paid Viktor Arvidsson also had an assist, and was also able to tally four shots on goal. Calle Jarnkrok and Kevin Fiala were also about to dish out an assist each for the Predators during Game 1.

Scoring for the Florida Panthers was Connor Brickley with two, Denis Malgin, Henrik Haapala and Michael Matheson. Brickley, Malgin and Matheson added assists to their goals, as well as Owen Tippett dishing out one. Jonathan Ang had two assists.

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Harri Sateri and James Reimer were in goal for the Florida Panthers for Game 1. The Predators were able to score all three of their goals on Sateri, who stopped 16 of the 19 shots. Reimer was perfect in goal for the Panthers as he stopped all 15 shots he faced.