The Florida Panthers wrapped up the 2025 Prospects Showcase in Wesley Chapel, Florida. With less than a week from actual preseason games, there was still business to take care of in the Gulf Coast. Panthers Prospect capped off the final game with a dominant win over the Nashville Predators, 6-0 taking their record to 2-1 for the weekend.
Florida got on the scoring quickly while on the forecheck. Sandis Vilmanis forced a turnover, and the loose puck found Gracyn Sawchyn in the low slot where he dropped it off Vilmanis, and gave Florida the early 1-0 lead 23 seconds into the contest.
It did not take long for the Cats to add on to their lead. A dump and chase worked to perfection as they got their forecheck going again, this time it was defenseman Ludvig Jansson who picked the puck up in the low slot and wasted no time converting past Predators goaltender Jakub Milota at 6:06 of the first.
Minutes before the period ended, Vilmanis was shaken up after colliding at the end boards after going on a solo breakaway after forcing a steal at the Panthers blue line. He would not return to the game.
After the Panthers killed off a penalty, Liam McKlinskey was next to get on the board. He received a long stretch pass from Eamon Powell. McKlinskey got behind the Predators defense, and easily finished the breakaway opportunity at 12:42 of the second period.
The scoring did not stop as Powell received the pass at the point on a low-to-high play from Jack Devine, and his slap shot took a bounce and in 14:48 into the second frame.
Cooper Black completed the 40 minutes not allowing a goal, as showcase invite Louis-Antoine Denault finished off the final 20 minutes.
Just like the first period, the Panthers scored quickly into the third, as Cristophe Tellier finished a breakaway opportunity to make it 5-0 18 seconds in.
It was already a demolition, and it continued just minutes later as Robert Mastosimone used his edge work to get around the Predators defense to be first to the puck in the corner. After working it back to Josh Davies, his shot was deflected off of Masrosimone to pile it on at 1:47 of the third.
The shutout came to an end as the Panthers failed to clear their zone, with a broken stick from Shea Busch, made it more difficult to clear, with the Predators continuing their offensive zone pressure, Nashville retrieved the puck, where shot was originally saved by Denault, but Cole O’Hara cleaned up the loose change to make it 6-1.
Both teams went to a five round shootout following the game, where neither team in any of the five rounds scored.
That’s a wrap from Wesley Chapel as the Panthers gave the Predators their only loss of the tournament. Florida went 2-1 themselves, defeating Carolina, and dropping Saturday’s game to Tampa Bay.
Panthers will meet the media on Wednesday for Media day right before hitting the ice for their first official training camp practice this Thursday in Fort Lauderdale.
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