Steven Stamkos and Juuso Parssinen both scored for the second straight game, but the Nashville Predators fell to the Florida Panthers 6-2 in the final on Thursday at Amerant Bank Arena. The result gives the Preds back-to-back defeats in back-to-back games, and the visitors didn’t get the result they wanted in Florida.

“They were just a lot better than us,” Preds captain Roman Josi said. “From start to finish, they kind of embarrassed us out there. I felt like they were just the better team. They were quicker, they were quicker, they made better plays, they won battles, and just in every aspect of the game, we have to…play a lot better as a team. Like I said, they kind of embarrassed us tonight.”

“I actually thought, you know, after two straight grueling trips, I thought we came out with some pretty good energy, but somehow the story of this season summed it all up,” Preds head coach Andrew Brunette said. “We made some mental mistakes and then conceded far too many penalties. Florida is a fast team, but we can’t play them shorthanded the whole game. And on two nights in a row there were careless penalties that put us behind eight balls.”

Just over five minutes into Thursday’s game, the Panthers led 2-0 on goals from Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk. Florida doubled its lead midway through the second stanza when Evan Rodrigues and Carter Verhaeghe scored.

Stamkos got the Preds on the board with a one-timer on the power play off a feed from Josi. The goal gives Stamkos six points in his last six games.

Florida scored its fifth goal of the night before the middle period ended and took a 6-1 lead in the final frame before Parssinen buried Nashville’s second goal of the night to make the final score 1-0.

Nashville went 1-for-6 on the power play and thwarted six of Florida’s eight chances with the man advantage in a game in which both teams suffered a combined 44 penalty minutes. Preds goalkeeper Scott Wedgewood made 28 saves in the loss.

Now the Predators will turn their attention to Saturday night when they host the Utah Hockey Club for the first time, and Nashville will certainly be excited about the chance for a better performance.

“Regardless of expectations, it’s not fun to be in this situation,” Josi said. “We have to find a way out. It feels like there are games like last night (in Washington) where we play better. We couldn’t win, but I thought our game was better. And then we come into the night and we take a step back again. It’s not fun at all right now. We have to figure it out really quickly and we have to get consistency in our game and do that every night. And if you don’t, you’ll see what happens tonight.”

“I mean, of course you’re worried about the record, but it’s more about how we play every night,” Brunette said. “We just can’t seem to get the momentum going…We just don’t understand the connection between this group and that’s the frustrating part. The record is the record for me. At the moment it’s more of a process. I think we obviously put ourselves in a tough position, but last year (at the start of the season) we were 5-10. In this league you never know what can happen, but for me our standard is the biggest thing and our standard was not met here.”

Notes:

Predators forward Colton Sissons, who had to leave Wednesday’s game in Washington after blocking a shot, did not play Thursday and continues to suffer from an upper-body injury. Striker Tommy Novak (day-to-day, upper body) was also missing from the squad on Thursday.

Mark Jankowski replaced Sissons in Nashville’s lineup against the Panthers while defenseman Dante Fabbro was sidelined.

The Predators return home to host Utah on Saturday night before a five-game road trip next week.