Home Again: Florida Panthers Roll Predators, Win 6th Straight

SUNRISE — Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice figured his team might have some pep in their step Thursday against the Nashville Predators despite the lengthy road trip which just ended.

Maurice figured right.

The Panthers took control of their game against the struggling Predators early, taking a two-goal lead in the first and a four-goal lead into the third in a penalty-filled 6-2 win at Amerant Bank Arena.

Carter Verhaeghe scored twice in the win; Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, Evan Rodrigues, and Tomas Nosek also scored for the Panthers.

Uvis Balinskis had his first multi-point NHL game with two assists; Sasha Barkov, who has plenty of multi-point games, ended with three assists.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 16 saves in the win.

Florida, which went 5-0 on the longest road trip of the season, have won six straight — its longest win streak since last season.

The Panthers had three winning streaks of at least six games in their Stanley Cup championship season, the longest being nine.

Florida (10-3-1) also has at least a point in 10 of the past 11 games (9-1-1).

Nashville, on the other hand, is heading in the other direction.

The Predators dropped to 4-9-1 and have now lost five of six.

GOALS OF THE GAME

• Panthers 1, Predators 0 (3:33 1st): Sam Reinhart blew through the zone with speed, came around the net with Scott Wedgewood far out and threw one in off the Nashville goalie for his 11th goal of the season.
• Panthers 2, Predators 0 (5:14 1st): Matthew Tkachuk came down on a breakaway and followed up his own shot — which first went off defenseman Brady Skjei before Carter Verhaeghe got a piece.
• Panthers 3, Predators 0 (1:56 2nd): Evan Rodrigues gets a pass from Sam Bennett near the goal-line, backs up to the right circle and snipes a shot through just as a power-play chance ends. It’s the third goal in as many games for Rodrigues.
• Panthers 4, Predators 0 (11:18 2nd PP): Uvis Balinskis threads a shot to the front of the net where Carter Verhaeghe picks it up and backhands it over a downed Wedgewood.
• Panthers 4, Predators 1 (13:52 2nd PP): Former Lightning captain Steven Stamkos gets his 100th point against the Panthers just like he always seems to — one-timing a shot from the left circle while on the power play.
• Panthers 5, Predators 1 (19:32 2nd): Verhaeghe gets his second after Sasha Barkov sends him a cross-ice shot on the rush. Florida was outshooting the Preds 25-11 at the time of that goal.
• Panthers 6, Predators 1 (11:23 3rd): Tomas Nosek gets his first goal with the Panthers with a Nate Schmidt cross-ice pass going off both of Nosek’s skates and in.
• Panthers 6, Predators 2 (11:51 3rd): Juuso Parssinen deflects a point shot from Marc Del Gaizo.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

• 1. Carter Verhaeghe, Florida
• 2. Sasha Barkov, Florida
• 3. Matthew Tkachuk, Florida

ON DECK: GAME 15

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS 

• When: Saturday, 6 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/FTM)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Season Series — At Panthers: Saturday. At Flyers: Dec. 5, Jan. 13.
• Last Season: Flyers Won 2-1
• All-time Regular Season Series: Philadelphia leads 58-38-6, 7 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Tuesday vs. New Jersey Devils, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+/Hulu)