In Sunrise, the visiting Nashville Predators continued their surge up the standings in the Western Conference with a 3-0 win over the the Panthers on Thursday night. 
Kevin Lankinen made 33 saves in the shutout.
“Great effort from the whole team,” Lankinen said. “I thought we outbattled them, and that shows what kind of character we have, what kind of a team we are. It is so much fun to be a part of this. I am really proud of the guys.”
The Predators improved to 41-25-4, they are 14-0-2 in their last 16 games.
“We are happy for the group,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “We played, probably, the best team in the League tonight. We played our game, stayed true to us. We’re building for this sort of success as we move forward. … I think we found our identity and are enjoying what we are doing. When you have joy in the work, joy in the grind, you’re probably in a pretty good spot.”
Filip Forsberg hit for a double in the win.
Gustav Nyquist staked the Predators to a 1-0 lead at 17:47 of the opening stanza, scoring off a tuck in from the edge of the crease.
Forsberg potted his first of the game at 7:32 of the middle frame, scoring off the power play. He deflected a point shot in for a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes of play.
“We knew this was going to be a great challenge and we answered the bell,” Forsberg said. “We are putting in the work. We came out ready to skate against one of the fastest teams in the League and I thought we outskated them. That is obviously something we want to keep going.”
The Panthers dropped to 45-20-4 off their third straight loss.
“We are not close right now. I have all the faith we can get them back to playing their game, but we’re not close to our game right now,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “Right now, we are a rush team with no speed and that does not relate to the [Panthers] team you have seen in the past. You’re only as good as your last game. I have a lot of faith, but we have to find a way to get it out of them.”
In the third period, Forsberg collected his double at 14:19 for a 3-0 score. The goal came off a shot from Nyquist that glanced off Forsberg’s skate. 
Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves in the loss.
“I think we just need to get back to the grind we had been playing with before,” Florida’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson said. “We need to be a unit of five guys coming out and defending and being on the rush. We’re playing spread out, and it is hard to play like that.”
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