Nashville – New experiences, new perspectives.
In a fierce fighting effort, the Florida Panthers fell to the Nashville Predators with a 5-0 and 5-3 score on the preseason opening doubleheader.
“You’re thinking about coming back and being competitive over the summer,” Forward Kai Schwind said of the start of the preseason. “That’s what we live in so it’s good to be back.”
Without the veterans on the Stanley Cup roster, the younger Florida lineup would have acquired a taste of the NHL game.
With one player with an NHL experience, Trevor Carrick skated in seven NHL games, the Panthers played eight predators in over 130 NHL games, including Michael Bunting (344 gameplay), Eric Haula (759 games), Jonathan Marchessau (716 gameplay), and Bradiska Jay (691 games).
“These are really difficult games for young players to play,” coach Paul Maurice said following the doubleheader. “There are some nhlers on the other side, and they’re all brand new. I’m happy that we’ve been able to stay in the fight and find a way to fight back against the game.”
The Predators gave an early 1-0 lead in Game 1, with Rider Rollston taking the rebound at 5:24 by goaltender Brandon Bushisi.
Bussi maintained a 1-score game with 11 saves during the frame, including consecutive saves in March Essault.
“Some really good saves,” forward Wilmer Skog said of Bushisi’s performance. “It might have been more of a goal, but he played really well.”
Extending the lead to the second season, Haura found the back of the net on a power play at 3:41 to make it 2-0.
Kirill Gerasimyuk came during that period so that you can see both netminders.
In 31 minutes, Bussi made 16 saves.
Adding another addition to Nashville, Reid Schaefer was redirected with a 12:19 shot, moving the predator ahead 3-0.
Haura, who won her second game, went 4-0 at 7:11 with a wraparound goal.
With the first game out of reach, David Edstrom made it 5-0 at 15:44.
“A lot of the younger guys on our team, but there’s no excuse,” Schwind said. “We’re all hockey players. We’re out learning and we’re going to learn a few things from today.”
Another dose of veteran competition in Game 2, the Panthers saw Stephen Stancos, Ryan O’Reilly, Philip Forsberg, Roman Joshi and Juice Saros take ice for predators.
First in Game 2, he broke the ice, and forward Brett Charsuke defeated Saros with a wrist shot at 7:44, giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
