The Florida Panthers didn’t waste a second setting the tone, and by the end of the night they had delivered one of their best offensive showings of the season.
A.J. Greer scored twice and added an assist, Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe each posted a goal and two assists, and the Panthers overwhelmed the struggling Nashville Predators 8–3 on Monday night. Florida scored a season-high eight goals for the second time in a week and has now won three of its past four games.
Gustav Forsling, Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist and Sam Bennett also found the net, while Daniil Tarasov turned aside 36 shots in a strong performance for Florida.
Nashville, meanwhile, continued its free fall. Filip Forsberg, Fedor Svechkov and Nick Blankenburg scored, but the Predators received only 17 combined saves from Juuse Saros and Justus Annunen and have now dropped eight of their last nine. They sit last overall in the NHL.
Greer jump-started the Panthers immediately, scoring just 11 seconds after the opening faceoff. Remarkably, it marked the second straight game in which Nashville allowed a goal within the first 15 seconds — after surrendering one 15 seconds in during Saturday’s loss to Colorado.
Rodrigues made it 2–0 at 5:42 of the first period, pouncing on a rebound at the left side of the crease.
After being shut out in back-to-back games, the Predators finally broke a 126:52 scoring drought when Forsberg redirected Luke Evangelista’s shot past Tarasov to cut Florida’s lead in half.
Svechkov then tied the game at 2–2 at 10:32 — his first goal of the season — but the momentum didn’t last. Boqvist restored the Panthers’ lead just 59 seconds later, and Bennett pushed it to 4–2 with 4:16 left in the opening period when Svechkov’s attempted clearance ricocheted off his own skate and past a surprised Saros.
Forsling made it 5–2 just 1:24 into the second period, a goal that ended Saros’ night after he stopped 11 of the 16 shots he faced. Annunen took over and finished with six saves.
Blankenburg briefly sparked Nashville in the third, scoring a power-play goal at 2:11 to pull the Predators within 5–3. But Greer responded at 4:52 with his second of the game, restoring the three-goal margin and effectively sealing the win. Verhaeghe and Reinhart added late goals as Florida rolled to its highest scoring output of the season.
Reinhart extended his point streak to seven games with another dynamic performance. He now has six goals and seven assists in that span and continues to be one of Florida’s most consistent offensive drivers.
The Panthers return home to host the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night.
The Predators head to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Wednesday as they attempt to halt their skid.