NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Anton Lundell scored the game-winning goal in the second period, and the Florida Panthers beat the Nashville Predators 4-1 Saturday night for their seventh straight victory.
Jonathan Huberdeau and Gustav Forsling scored empty-net goals 17 seconds apart, and Carter Verhaeghe also had a goal, and Forsling had an assist as Florida split the season series with Nashville.
Rookie goalie Spencer Knight made 24 saves for a victory in his fourth straight appearance.
Knight made a flurry of saves after Nashville pulled goalie Juuse Saros with 2:08 remaining until Huberdeau scored from the high slot with 1:07 left. Saros went to the net for the faceoff, then skated off seconds before Forsling added his empty-net goal.
With the victory, the Panthers padded their margin atop the Eastern Conference and in the Atlantic Division. They also added another victory to the club record with No. 51 of the season.
Ryan Johansen scored a goal as the Predators snapped a two-game winning streak. Nashville still has a two-point lead over Dallas, a 3-1 loser to the Devils earlier Saturday, for the first wild-card berth in the Western Conference.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead when
The Predators scored early in the second with Forsberg hitting a post and later stopped by Knight on a backhand try. Florida defenseman Brandon Montour hit a post midway through the period.
Lundell put Florida up 2-1 at 15:16 of the second after skating up the left boards and skating toward the goal,
Nashville had a big opportunity to tie it up with 8:38 left. Knight came out past the circles to handle a puck, but Predators captain Roman Josi, who set the franchise single-season scoring mark in the last game, missed the wide-open net, sending the puck off the side. Knight then stopped Josi's slap shot a few seconds later.
ROAD WARRIORS
Florida won for the sixth time in seven road games, giving the Panthers 21 wins away from home. They improved to 21-9-6, one off the franchise record of 22 set in 2015-16. This victory tied the franchise record of 48 points set in that season.
The Panthers also set a franchise record for goals scored on the road with 128, topping the mark of 126 set in 2018-19. They also improved to 8-2-0 in their last 10 games in Nashville.
STREAKING PANTHERS
Florida forward Sam Reinhart had an assist on Lundell’s goal, giving him six points in three games. Reinhart has three goals and three assists in that span. Huberdeau extended his points streak to 11 games with his late goal. He now has eight goals and 12 assists.
JOHANSEN’S GOALS
With 22 goals, Johansen now has his best season since scoring 26 goals in 2014-15. He hit the 50-point mark for the seventh time in his NHL career and has 20 points in his last 19 games with nine goals and 11 assists.
UP NEXT
Panthers: Host Anaheim on Tuesday night.
Predators: Visit Pittsburgh on Sunday.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
