Trocheck sparks Panthers again in 4-2 victory over Nashville

Florida's Vincent Trocheck and Aaron Ekblad each had a goal and an assist to lead the visiting Panthers to a 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday. Frank Vatrano and Jared McCann also scored, and Colton Sceviour notched two assists for the Panthers, who beat a top five conference club for the second time in two nights. Florida knocked off Toronto 3-1 on Friday.

The win was the 800th in Florida franchise history. Nick Bonino and Austin Watson each had a goal and an assist for the Predators, who lost their second straight and fell to 1-3-1 in the past five.

James Reimer stopped 37 shots for Florida, while Juuse Saros made 26 saves. Nashville played without forward Ryan Johansen, who began serving a two-game suspension. The top-line center gave a nasty slash to the head of Winnipeg's Mark Scheifele in the Jets' 5-1 win on Thursday.

Florida's second power-play unit scored first at 4:05 of the first period. Ekblad blasted in his ninth goal from up high. The tally by Ekblad was the 62nd of his career, breaking Robert Svehla's franchise record for goals by a defenseman. Recently moved to Florida's top line, Vatrano sniped in his career-high 15th goal at 13:16 for a 2-0 lead. The left wing has four goals and an assist in his last six games.

Trocheck scored for the first time since a 27-game absence for a broken ankle. In his second game back, the second line center deked and beat Saros on a breakaway for his fourth goal at 2:59 of the second period to make it 3-0. Trocheck had an assist in his first game back in the win over Toronto. Reimer stopped all 20 Nashville shots in the period, including a prime one-on-one chance by Craig Smith with 1:11 remaining after finding himself alone in the low slot.

The Predators put themselves right back in it when their second line scored goals 38 seconds apart in the first 3:23 of the third period. Bonino tucked in his 12th, and Watson scored his seventh as the crowd came to life with the deficit sliced to 3-2. However, Florida's fourth line took some air out of the arena when McCann tapped in a pass from Sceviour for his eighth goal. Linemate Jayce Hawryluk recorded his first NHL assist on the tally, and the Panthers held Nashville scoreless the rest of the way.

--Field Level Media