The Nashville Predators gave up three early period goals and finish the 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase 0-3.
The Nashville Predators gave up three early period goals and finish the 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase 0-3.
The Nashville Predators took the ice for their final game of the 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase against the Carolina Hurricanes prospects in Estero, FL this morning. The Predators were hoping to get their first win of the tournament while the Hurricanes looked to finished the showcase with a perfect record.
It was a tough start for the Nashville Predators and first round draft pick Tanner Molendyk whose misplayed puck led to a goal by Vasily Ponomarev less than a minute into the game. The Predators were able to shake off the quick mistake and generated a flurry of their own offensive chances, but Hurricanes goaltender Jakub Vondras handled the shots he faced effectively.
A penalty by Luke Evangelista partway through the period gave the Hurricanes their first opportunity on the power play. Yaroslav Askarov and the penalty kill unit managed to keep Carolina off the board. The first period ended with Nashville leading 17-12 in shots on goal but the Hurricanes holding a 1-0 lead.
The second period opened much like the first with an early goal by the Hurricanes. Ryan Suzuki made a great play in the defensive end and took the puck down the ice to score on Askarov glove side high at :52. Nashville got their first chance on the power play at 1:55 but couldn't capitalize on the man advantage.
The Suzuki score and penalty kill gave Carolina the momentum, and that continued as Kalan Lind headed to the penalty box at 7:26 for a hooking infraction. Carolina generated threatening chances on the man advantage with clean cross ice passing but couldn't convert.
Nashville finally got on the board at 11:14 as camp invitee Jack O'Brien scored on a shot from the circle beating Vondras glove side high. The second period ended with Carolina leading 2-1 and outshooting the Predators 16-4 in the middle twenty.
The curse of the early goal continued in the third period as Blake Murray found the puck in the slot and scored on Askarov at 1:11 giving the Hurricanes a two goal lead once again. The Predators answered with offensive chances and finally cashed in at 5:30. Luke Evangelista corralled his own rebound, took it behind the net, and found Austin Roest near the net.
The teams exchanged offensive chances, but a roughing penalty after a late scrum sent Tag Bertuzzi to the box giving Nashville a late opportunity on the power play. The Predators top unit wasn't able to get the puck past Vondras on the two minute chance. The Predators pulled Askarov for the extra attacker, but Reid Schaefer wasn't able to finish on a quality chance late, and the Predators lost to the Hurricanes by a score of 3-2.
Shootout: Askarov made four out of five save (Ryan Suzuki scored) and Vondras stopped all five shots he faced.
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