With the first week of preseason out of the way, things are looking good for the Panthers. The returning players are looking every bit as good as last year and are in better shape than they were last year at this time per Head Coach Paul Maurice when he spoke to the media during the first few days of training camp. Hunter St.
Martin has made a strong impression with great performances in the rookie showcase and the preseason games he’s played in. Spencer Knight looked solid in the net as did Chris Driedger and the Boqvist brothers got to team up for a goal for the first time in their NHL careers. Overall, things went well this week despite the losses and the fight for the open roster spots is a fierce one.
Nashville Double Header: The Cats kicked things off in Nashville with a doubleheader where they took both wins. The NHL regulars were split between the two rosters with game one featuring Bennett, Tkachuk, Rodrigues, Lundell, Loustarinen, Mikkola, and Ekblad. Fans also got their first look at newcomer Nate Schmidt and returner Spencer Knight.
Knight started in net and stopped all 19 shots he saw before handing the reins over to Cooper Black midway through who stopped five of the seven shots. Neither team scored on special teams, not that there were a lot of special teams to be played in game 1. Sam Bennett scored the first goal of the season for the Panthers with Matthew Tkachuk and Mikulas Hovorka on the assists.
Hunter St. Martin put the Cats up 2-0 in the second period.