Panthers face league-worst Predators after tough loss to Edmoton, with Florida backup goalie Daniil Tarasov aiming to continue a stretch of strong play.
The Florida Panthers will play their only road trip in a stretch of 12 games on Monday night in Tennessee.
Fresh off a frustrating loss to the Edmonton Oilers, Florida will look to get back on the winning track when they face former head coach Andrew Brunette and the Nashville Predators.
For the Panthers, a rough outing by starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky put them too far behind the eight ball.
The biggest bright spot of the night for Florida was the play of Daniil Tarasov, who came in on relief of Bobrovsky and turned in a stellar performance.
He stopped all 12 of the shots he faced from the Oilers, including the five high danger shots they sent his way.
Tarasov will be back in goal for Florida on Monday in Nashville.
In addition to looking to bounce back, the Cats will also hope to continue the success against the Predators both recently and historically.
Florida swept the two-game series with Nashville last season, outscoring the Preds 10-3 in the two victories, and are 8-2-0 during their past 10 visits to Bridgestone Arena, a stretch that dates all the way back to January of 2019.
The Panthers have outscored Nashville 40-28 during those ten games, averaging 4.5 goals per game during the eight wins.
As for the Predators, they’ve struggled to find their footing so far this season, and that’s putting it nicely.
After starting the season with a strong 2-0-1 mark, they’ve won just four games since, entering Monday with a 6-11-4 record.
It’s the worst record in the NHL, one point behind the Calgary Flames, who had played two games more than Nashville.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Monday’s matchup with the Predators:
Mackie Samoskevich – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
Jesper Boqvist – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – A.J. Greer
Noah Gregor – Luke Kunin – Jack Devine
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Uvis Balinskis – Jeff Petry
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Photo caption: Feb 25, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros (74) blocks the shot of Florida Panthers center Carter Verhaeghe (23) during the second period at Bridgestone Arena. (Steve Roberts-Imagn Images)