Florida Panthers win big in shutout of Nashville Predators

The Florida Panthers ended a three-game losing streak by shutting out the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.

The Florida Panthers officially stopped the bleeding of a three-game regulation losing streak on Saturday night by topping the Nashville Predators 3-0. It was a night of fun, firsts, records, a shutout, and a series sweep! Before I get to the official recap of last night’s remarkable game, I wanted to say that I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

This game started off with our AHL goalie Chris Driedger starting in net and Sergei Bobrovsky on the bench. After the game in Washington that the Panthers lost 4-3, the coaching staff decided that Bobrovsky needed a “break”. With Sam Montembault needing to play more games in the AHL, he was sent down and Driedger was called up. They decided to give the youngster a chance to show what he’s got and it paid off big time.

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There were no goals scored during the first period. The first goal was scored by defenseman Anton Stralman and assisted by Colton Sceviour and Noel Acciari at the 1:06 mark of the second period. That was Stralman’s first goal in a Panthers uniform.

The third period started and Stralman lit the lamp yet again, assisted by Vincent Trocheck, at the 8:38 mark to make the score 2-0 for the Panthers. That was Stralman’s fourth multi-goal game in his career which is an amazing accomplishment. Aleksander Barkov, assisted by Evgenii Dadonov and Keith Yandle, scored the final goal of the game at the 11:09 mark to make the score 3-0!

It’s the 143rd goal of his career, eighth of the season, and it brings his total amount donated to the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital to $12,800. With the 143rd goal of his career, he also moved into fifth place in franchise history with goals scored. Next on the franchise list for goals scored is Stephen Weiss with 145 goals so we’ll see when the great and young incredible Captain will move into fourth place all-time.

In addition to Barkov’s record, Dadonov reaches a milestone of his own. With his assist on Barkov’s goal, he notched his 100th career assist, so way to go Dadonov! There’s one more milestone to discuss and that one goes to Driedger. He’s now the first goalie in Panthers franchise history to have his first career start be a shutout win, which is absolutely remarkable.

After the game was over, I had a first of my own. I went down on the ice, with a few of my closest friends and did an on-ice post game puck shot. It was so much fun. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it without the assistance of the Roar Corps members on the ice, but I still had a blast and it also gave me an incredible increased respect for the job these players do every game!

Trying to shoot that puck and hold that stick was not easy! It was heavy, and you have to position your body properly to do it. I learned a bit and I had so much fun doing it. I’m a student of this beautiful sport and I’m so very glad to have hockey as a part of my life. It puts a smile on my face whether we win or lose and it’s a beautiful personification of team work and the power of coming together and celebrating every moment that life on and off the ice has to offer.

The next game for the Panthers is on Tuesday night against the Minnesota Wild in Sunrise which continues their franchise-high nine-game homestand. I have continued confidence in this team to get the job done and I’m continuing that confidence going into Tuesday night. That’s all I’ve got for now. Thank you as always for reading and as I always say – LET’S GO CATS!