With chance to clinch playoff spot, Panthers lose game (and Chris Driedger) in Nashville
Monday could’ve been a chance for the Florida Panthers to celebrate. With a chance to clinch a playoff berth for only the sixth time in franchise history, the Panthers took an early lead on the Nashville Predators. In Dallas, the Carolina Hurricanes were trailing by multiple goals, too, which meant a chance to maybe vault back into first place in the Central Division.
For the next few hours, a once promising night unraveled. The Panthers fell 4-1, the Hurricanes rallied for an overtime loss and Chris Driedger went down with a lower-body injury in the second period.
“We’re going to regroup for tomorrow,” winger Anthony Duclair said.
Florida (31-14-5) surrendered four straight goals after jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first period. The Panthers outshot the Predators, 40-27, and dominated the final two periods in possession time and shot differential.
Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros made 39 saves, including 37 straight to finish the game after a first-period goal by versatile forward Sam Bennett. Driedger made 14 saves on 16 shots before exiting with a lower-body injury with 4:55 left in the second period — he’s day-to-day, coach Joel Quenneville said — and fellow goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made nine saves on 11 shots in relief.
“It progressively was deteriorating as the game was going on,” Quenneville said of Driedger’s injury, “so we thought it was prudent to take him out at that time.”
Florida more than doubled the Predators (27-21-2) in shot attempts and nearly doubled them in scoring chances, and still missed out a chance to clinch its first trip to the traditional Stanley Cup playoffs since 2016. The Panthers also slip two points back of first-place Carolina in the Central and the Hurricanes have still played two fewer games than Florida. The Panthers still main one point ahead of the third-place Tampa Bay Lightning, but the Lightning has now played two fewer games than Florida, too.
With six games left in the regular season, the Panthers can still clinch a playoff spot Tuesday at 7 p.m. when they wrap up a two-game series in Tennessee. If they win, it’ll be the earliest they’ve clinched a postseason berth since 2000.
“We still have a chance to clinch here. We put ourselves in a good spot,” Duclair said. “We’re just going to regroup, recharge and get back at it tomorrow.”
The forward helped deliver Florida its lone memorable moment of an otherwise frustrating night. With 15:11 left in the first period, Duclair flung a puck toward the net and Bennett deflected past Saros to give the Panthers an early lead.
The goal was Bennett’s third since joining Florida in a trade-deadline deal March 12 and gives him seven points in six games as a Panther. The line he has played with since arriving — including Duclair and All-Star wing Jonathan Huberdeau — was the biggest bright spot for the Florida, generating six shots and eight scoring chances, plus the goal.
It only stood up for 1:41, though. Defenseman MacKenzie Weegar committed a penalty on the shift after the goal and versatile Nashville forward Mikael Granlund scored on a rebound to tie the game 1-1 with 13:30 left in the period.
The Predators outshot the Panthers, 13-6, in the first period and Florida responded with a 22-5 edge in the second. Nashville took the lead for good, though, on a goal by Predators winger Nick Cousins with 16:25 left in the second period.
“Our shot selection was poor, I thought, but the quality and the quanity wasn’t bad,” Quenneville said. “We needed to be more in the middle in the offensive zone and when we did, it was effective, but it wasn’t often enough.”
Injury updates
Forward Noel Acciari returned from an upper-body injury and started on the first line next to star center Aleksander Barkov and winger Frank Vatrano.
Left wing Mason Marchment should return on this road trip, coach Joel Quenneville. He and fellow forward Carter Verhaeghe both traveled, although Quenneville doesn’t expect Verhaeghe to return until at least next week.
This story was originally published April 26, 2021 at 10:37 PM.
