‘We weren’t smart enough in key moments’: 2 huge mistakes doom Panthers in rare home loss
The Florida Panthers played with fire Tuesday — maybe they have all season, tied for the league lead in come-from-behind wins — and it finally bit them in the final 10 minutes against the Nashville Predators.
They fired 48 shots at David Rittich and still they could never put away the Predators, and then Sam Bennett made the costly play — a needless cross check behind the play — to give Nashville a power play in the final six minutes and the Predators capitalized. With 5:31 left, the Predators took the lead for the first time and held on to stun Florida, 6-4, in Sunrise.
“I take a lot of responsibility,” Bennett said. “That’s a crucial play that I can’t make.”
The forward wasn’t alone, though: The Panthers (35-11-5) gave up a shorthanded goal with 9:19 left to let Nashville (29-18-4) tie the game 4-4 when star defenseman Aaron Ekblad couldn’t cleanly field a pass from All-Star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau.
They also had massive massive advantage in possession time — they led 80-41 in shot attempts — yet only led 20-15 in high-danger chances, which left goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky with his worst start of the calendar year as he made only 27 saves on 32 shots.
Florida built a 1-0 lead in the first period and let it slip away by the first intermission, then a 3-1 lead in the second and let it slip away in less than two minutes. The Panthers even led 4-3 in the third before giving up three goals in the final 10 minutes — one shorthanded, one on a power play and one against an empty net — to lose only their fourth home game of the year.
Florida has been astonishingly good on home ice this season with a 16-0 record when leading after two periods, a league-best 5-3 record when trailing after two and now a 2-1 record when tied at the second intermission.
In the first half of the year, the Panthers built the best record in the Eastern Conference by dominating on home ice, often with comebacks and third-period magic. For at least one night, it ran out Tuesday and Florida dropped behind the Carolina Hurricanes in points percentage.
“Our decisions all over the ice weren’t all that sharp, especially at key moments,” interim coach Andrew Brunette said. “We got what we deserved tonight. We weren’t smart enough in key moments.”
The 14,234 at FLA Live Arena were antsy to see the Panthers back in South Florida on Tuesday. More than three weeks since their last home game, the Panthers began their first game in Florida since the All-Star break with a new hype video all about the home crowd, soundtracked by Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” and prominently displaying quotes from Panthers about how much they like playing at home.
They had plenty of opportunities to cheer for goals, only the Predators always had a response ready.
With 13:15 left in the first, forward Sam Reinhart scored on a power play for a 1-0 lead, but Nashville left wing Filip Forsberg answered 5:21 later to knot the score at 1-1. In the second period, defensemen Radko Gudas and Ekblad scored less than eight minutes apart to push Florida’s lead to 3-1, but the Predators erased the lead in 1:39 on goals by star defenseman Roman Josi and left wing Yakov Trenin.
The Panthers had an 11-2 advantage in shots on goal in the opening eight minutes, but only a 1-0 lead to show for it and it was quickly gone. They had a 34-26 advantage in shots at the second intermission, but the score was still even at 3-3. Rittich outdueled Bobrovsky, who was starting for the fourth time in seven days and had his worst full-game save percentage of the season.
“As a group, we were not sharp in front of Bob tonight,” Brunette said when asked whether he thinks the goalie may need a game off soon. “We gave up way too many opportunities.”
The most glaring miscue came on a power play, right around the halfway mark of the third. Florida was up 4-3 after Bennett scored his first goal since January with 11:49 remaining and a power play was the perfect chance to finally bury the Predators, especially after Nashville had a a potential game-tying goal wiped away by a successful Brunette challenge
Instead, Ekblad stumbled near the blue line as he tried to keep the puck in the offensive zone and rookie Tanner Jeannot grabbed the loose puck with no one in front of him. The Predators winger raced down the ice and beat Bobrovsky to tie the game once again.
The Panthers got the next two shots on goal, but Bennett’s penalty was a killer — a cross check behind the net in the offensive zone as Nashville cleared — and Predators forward Mikael Granlund scored 17 seconds into the ensuing power play.
“We gave them their chances,” Gudas said, “and they capitalized on it.”
Mamin returns to top line
Maxim Mamin came off injured reserve Tuesday and immediately slotted back into the top line at right wing, next to fellow forwards Carter Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov. The winger missed seven straight games with an unspecified injury.
With Mamin back in the lineup, Noel Acciari got the night off after playing in his first two games of the year Friday and Saturday. The forward missed the first 48 games of the regular season after tearing a pectoral muscle in the preseason.
To make room for Mamin on the active roster, the Panthers loaned Owen Tippett to AHL Charlotte. The right wing has played in 42 of 51 games for Florida this season after playing in 45 of 52 last year.
This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 9:53 PM.
