Tomas Fleischmann got the first good chance of the game, stealing the puck in the neutral zone and skating around two defenders before rocketing the shot off the post at the three minute mark.
At the seven minute mark, Florida was awarded the first power play of the night when Mike Fisher was called for holding Tomas Fleischmann in the Florida zone. The Cats managed to get one shot on goal, but the Preds easily killed off the chance, clearing the puck out three times.
Nashville would get on the board first at the 11 minute mark when Andrei Kostitsyn (13) beat Scott Clemmensen on the Predator’s third shot of the game. This despite the Panthers outshooting Nashville 10-3 up to that point. Clemmensen has allowed four goals on the last 11 shots he has seen. Paul Gaustad received credit for an assist.
Hits: Predators, 9-5 (Gabriel Bourque leads Nashville with two, Mike Weaver has two for Florida)
Blocked Shots: Panthers, 3-2
Faceoffs: Tied, 9-9 (Paul Gaustad has won five-of-seven for the Preds, Stephen Weiss has won only one-of-six for the Cats)
Shots On Goal: Panthers, 15-6 (Sean Bergenheim, Marcel Goc, Mike Santorelli and Wojtek Wolski all have two for Florida)
Score: Predators 1, Panthers 0