FLORIDA PANTHERS vs. NASHVILLE PREDATORS
FEB. 5, 2021
BB&T Center – Sunrise, FL
| FLORIDA PANTHERS | NASHVILLE PREDATORS |
| 2 | 1 |
- The Panthers extended their point streak to 6-0-2, marking their eighth consecutive game with a point. Florida remains the only NHL team to have not lost in regulation, and are the second NHL team to have an eight-game point streak this season (WSH). This is the sixth time in NHL history that two clubs have started their season with eight-game point streaks (Per NHL PR).
- Aleksander Barkov registered two points, extending his point streak to four games (3-4-7).
- Carter Verhaeghe recorded two points (1-1-2). He now leads FLA with 6 goals (6-3-9) through the club’s first eight contests.
- Owen Tippett recorded his first NHL assist on Barkov’s goal.
- Chris Driedger stopped 24 of 25 NSH shots (.960 save percentage), improving his record to 3-0-1.
- MacKenzie Weegar notched his third assist of the season on Verhaeghe’s tally.
- The Panthers tied their season-high with 36 shots on goal, and set a new season high with 40 hits.
- With nine hits tonight, Radko Gudas has recorded 19 hits over his past two games and leads FLA with 41 this season.
- Seven of the Panthers first eight games this season have been decided by one goal.
- Noah Juulsen made his Panthers debut, recording two shots, five hits and 14:20 time on ice.
NHL.com Final Score: FLA 2, NSH 1
PANTHERS POSTGAME QUOTES – FEB. 5, 2021
Head Coach Joel Quenneville
“I think we’re comfortable later in games no matter what the score is.”
“I think we had a lot more composure in the third (period), a lot more offensive zone time. I thought we played a hard game throughout.”
“Driegs [goaltender Chris Driedger] was rock solid again tonight. Big save there late, he takes up a lot of the net and he’s very patient and poised. Rebounds seem to stick to him.”
“Tippy [forward Owen Tippett] got better as the game went on. He had a nice big hit late in the game, had a couple of threats off the wall. Just that consistency we’re looking to get from him and I think game in and game out, that predictable power forward we know he can be is something we’re striving for. He’s putting that together and we look forward to helping him progress.”
Goaltender Chris Driedger
“I feel good. I’m just trying to approach every game in the same way. I’ve got my routine now…For now, it seems to be getting me in the place where I need to be.”
“I’ve been fortunate to see some starts here, in the first three weeks here. It’s been good, the wins definitely help. It’s been a lot of fun.”
“On that one [Nashville forward Erik Haula’s late-game breakaway], breakaway late in the game, I just try and stay square, stay big, keep my ground. He had some back-checkers coming in and it looked like he was going to shoot it, so I went down and tried to take away as much net as I could and got a shoulder on it.”
Forward Carter Verhaeghe
“The whole team’s clicking. If one guy’s not going, the other guys are going. It’s awesome. The chemistry with me and Barky [forward Aleksander Barkov], too, he’s a great player, so easy to play with…We click pretty well, same with Duke [forward Anthony Duclair].”
“We had an opportunity to close it out last night and we didn’t, so it’s nice to see the same kind of opportunity and we did tonight, it’s something to learn from going forward in the future and it’s still early in the season, we’re going to get lots more of those opportunities.”
“We didn’t change the way we played. We played in their zone and kept on making plays, I think we got a little bit too much on our heels last game, we kind of backed in and let them set up one-timers and everything. We were taking it to them in the third [period] this time and weren’t playing like we were down two goals.”
Defenseman Noah Juulsen
“It felt great. Obviously it’s been a long time coming, I didn’t even know if I’d have this opportunity this year. I’m just thankful for Florida picking me up and giving me that opportunity tonight.”
“I think in the end it helped me get ready for this game tonight. Obviously I was skating a lot and staying in shape so I think that helped me feel good tonight, I felt pretty good for my first game in a long time. I’m happy with my game but there’s obviously areas I can still clean up.”
“I think he [defenseman Keith Yandle] was awesome, helping me out the whole game. He was talking to me every shift in between shifts, just here and there little things that I can clean up to just help us exit our zone or whatever it may be, but he kind of took me under his wing tonight and showed me everything and talked me through the whole game.”
