Trocheck, Montembeault drive Panthers past Preds in SO

Vincent Trocheck scored the only goal in the shootout, and backup goalie Sam Montembeault denied all three Nashville attempts, leading the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 victory over the host Predators on Saturday night. Trocheck roofed a backhander over Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne for the game winner, while Montembeault stuffed Matt Duchene, Ryan Johansen and Kyle Turris to nail down the victory.

Denis Malgin and Brett Connolly scored for Florida, and Montembeault stopped 25 shots for his first win this season. Florida's win may have come at a high cost, as Panthers star center Aleksander Barkov left the game in the first period and did not return due to an upper-body injury.

Barkov, who posted a career-high 35 goals last season, got 1:55 of ice time on just three shifts on Saturday. The Florida captain has no goals and six assists this season. The Panthers prevailed despite being on short rest. They played a home game Friday night and had to travel. Nashville played Thursday in Arizona.

Pekka Rinne made 28 saves, and Roman Josi and Turris netted goals. Predators left winger Filip Forsberg (lower body) missed his second straight game. He has scored 20-plus goals in five straight seasons. The Panthers benched 2016 first-round pick Henrik Borgstrom for the second straight game. He has no points in four games this season, but the center could get another chance, especially if Barkov remains out.

The first period featured three power-play opportunities -- two for Nashville -- and no goals. Nashville outshot Florida 9-5 in the scoreless first 20 minutes. Florida opened the scoring on Malgin's power-play goal from the left circle with 13:33 expired in the second period. There were just six seconds left on the power play when Malgin -- who was set up by Trocheck's cross-ice pass through traffic -- scored his second goal of the season.

Florida extended its lead to 2-0 on Connolly's goal with 51 seconds left in the second period. It was the fourth goal of the season for Connolly, who was acquired as a free agent in July. The Panthers outshot the home side 17-7 over the middle period.

Josi rang in his third goal with a one-timer off the far post at 9:07 of the third to cut it to 2-1. Turris tallied a power-play marker with 6:30 remaining in regulation to tie it for the Predators, who lead the NHL in third-period goals.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)