The Nashville Predators had issues weathering the storm that was the Carolina Hurricanes from puck drop. The Predators' struggle to get anything going saw them fall to Carolina, 4-1, on Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena. 

Filip Forsberg spoiled Pyotr Kochetkov's shutout bid in the third period, scoring his ninth point in six games and his fourth goal in two games. On the assists, it was Ryan O'Reilly's 14th point in 10 games and Steven Stamkos' sixth point in four games. 

The Predators had a little bit of a push in the third period, but it wasn't enough. 

Despite the loss, Saros made 33 saves on 36 shots and allowed three goals. It was his ninth 30+ save performance of the season. Nashville was outshot, 37-26, on the night. 

Here are three takeaways from Predators' loss to the Hurricanes. 

Stalled offense 

Saros did all the heavy work in the first period as the Predators' offense struggled immensely. Despite being down just 1-0, Nashville was outshot, 19-5, in the first period and saw Jackson Blake score his ninth of the season off a rebound in front of the net.

Carolina is the top puck possession team in the league, spending 46.2% of their total possession time this season in the offensive zone. On the flip side, they are not in their own zone for long, with just 35.6% of their total possession time spent in the defensive zone. 

Nashville struggled to not only get their offense going, but get the puck off Hurricanes sticks. 

"They're fast, and I thought we played slow for the first part of the game," Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said. "It took a little while to kind of get into the game for us and then a little bit of the game plan wasn't executed. 
We turned over pucks at the blue line and credit to them, they got great sticks and back pressure." 

Following the 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Monday, Filip Forsberg credited the teams breakout effort and was one of the reasons why the Predators had been playing so well as of late. 

On Wednesday, the Predators' breakout struggled consistently, whether it was making a pass to get it going or turning the puck over. Nashville gave away the puck 18 times on the night. 

"It's a little bit of both. 
We need our D back faster and our forwards need to come back and support better," Forsberg said. "Whether it's getting puck battles higher up on the walls, trying to get the pucks out that way or coming lower, try to create some separation."

Penalties sting Preds again 

While Nashville was able to keep its PIM below 10 minutes, penalties were still an issue in the final result.

It was a one-goal game for the majority until Nick Perbix took a delay of game penalty in the third period. On the power play, Sebastian Aho scored off a one-time feed into the slot by Jackson Blake to put the Hurricanes up by two. 

Less than two minutes later, Seth Jarvis scored off a one-timer on Saros' glove side to bump the lead to three goals. One penalty derailed any chance that Nashville had to get back into the game. 

"We knew it was gonna be a muddy game. One goal game, and then we'd take a kind of a senseless penalty, and two goals is gonna be really hard against this team (Carolina), especially the way they're playing right now," Brunette said. 

Penalties have been a continuous issue for the Predators all season. In their last meeting against the Hurricanes, Nashville put Carolina on the power play six times and they'd score twice. On Wednesday, the Hurricanes had four opportunities, scoring on one. 

Carolina also has one of the worst power plays in the league, sitting at 15.5%. 

Saros keeps Nashville in it 

This could've been a 10-0 game if Saros had not been in net. 

In addition to making nearly 20 saves in the first period alone, Saros recorded his ninth 30+ save performance of the season, making 33 saves on 36 shots. He continues to prove that he is crucial to the Predators' nightly success. 

Even after the loss, Saros is still flirting with a .900 save percentage, now a .897 and is now below 3.00 goals against average at 2.95. On the month, his save percentage is sitting at .920. 

"Juice (Saros) kept us in the game for the first period, then we actually started taking over," Forsberg said. "We keep working through the whole thing, and didn't get the result that we wanted in a third, but we certainly created enough chances for it." 

Up next: Toronto Maple Leafs (15-12-5, 6th Atlantic) at Nashville Predators (13-16-4, 8th Central) on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 6 p.m. CST at Bridgestone Arena

The Los Angeles Kings (14-10-9) showed flashes of urgency and physicality in the final period. Still, familiar issues resurfaced as they dropped their fourth consecutive game, falling 3-2 to the Florida Panthers (18-13-2) on  Wednesday afternoon.

Despite a late third-period push to trim the lead down to one, the Kings were once again undone by costly turnovers, missed chances, and an inability to sustain momentum when it mattered most. 

Not only is it their fourth straight loss, but the Kings have also dropped in the Pacific Division to fourth place behind the Edmonton Oilers, slowly falling apart, especially in December, going 2-6 in their eight games so far this month. Changes might be on the way soon, even if they find a slim way to turn it around. 

Final from Sunrise. #GoKingsGopic.twitter.com/HwTdZbdaZR

— LA Kings (@LAKings) December 18, 2025

Kings Strike First, But Can't Build Momentum

LA struck first again early, midway through the first period, capitalizing on several shots blocked by Florida's defense. Brandt Clarke and Alex Laferriere did a good job of rewarding Joel Armia for scoring the goal and giving the Kings a 1-0 lead after one. 

It was a good sign for the Kings that they had a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes because the Panthers were (0-9-0) when trailing after 20 minutes. So, Los Angeles already had the advantage just by scoring the first goal of the game, which they've done plenty of times this season. 

The Kings controlled large stretches early in the game, matching Florida shot-for-shot and winning key faceoffs, but the Panthers didn't quit as the game progressed. Anton Forsberg kept Los Angeles in front with a great night, finishing with 25 saves, including timely stops on Bard Marchand and Carter Verhaeghe during Florida's run. 

Florida's Pressure Turns the Tide

But that pressure from Forsberg didn't last long, as Anton Lundell tied the game 1-1 early in the second period, finishing a quick sequence off a Panthers faceoff win. Florida wasn't finished there, though. Just five minutes later, after scoring their first goal, Verhaeghe gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead, burying the tough shot through traffic after a breakdown from the Kings. 

The dagger came just five seconds into the third period when Sam Bennett extended Florida's lead to 3-1 after Brandt Clarke turned the puck over and converted quickly before Los Angeles could recover defensively. 

To their credit, Los Angeles didn't give up when Kevin Fiala pulled Los Angeles within one, with a circus shot that wasn’t supposed to go in, but deflected off Florida and found its way in the net to make it 3-2. It looked like that goal would give the Kings some sort of momentum or urgency to get back into the game, but that didn't happen. 

Missed chances tell the story. Several of King's attempts sailed just wide right or were blocked in the slot. Give credit to Florida's defense in the clutch, making it challenging for Los Angeles to find clean shooting lanes during its final push. 

Kings once again struggled on the power play, going 1-4 tonight and failing to capitalize on key opportunities to swing momentum. Meanwhile, turnovers were also another issue, particularly late in periods, and continued to haunt them. 

Four straight losses later, the Kings are still searching for answers, collapsing right in front of our eyes every game.  You could point to several issues, including effort, turnovers, blown leads, and execution to close out games. Until Los Angeles can learn how to close games and protect leads, this slide will continue. 

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The Florida Panthers were back on home ice Wednesday night, looking to build on the momentum they gained during their recent road trip.

Florida hosted the Los Angeles Kings for their second and final meeting of the season and completed the two-game sweep, defeating LA by a final of 3-2.

The Kings opened the scoring while on the power play after Sam Bennett was called for a high sticking double minor.

Joel Armia got his stick on a point shot by Brandt Clark, deflecting the puck past Daniil Tarasov to give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead with 6:21 left in the opening period.

Florida tied things up in similar fashion, with a power play goal early in the second period.

Parked in front of the net, Anton Lundell got his stick on a point shot by Aaron Ekblad, deflecting the puck perfectly past the glove of Anton Forsberg to knot the score at one 2:14 into the middle frame.

Less than five minutes later, the Panthers took their first lead of the night.

The red-hot Sam Bennett line struck again, as Carter Verhaeghe scored his ninth goal over his past 11 games to give Florida a 2-1 lead at the 7:04 mark of the second period off assists from Jeff Petry and Brad Marchand.

Carrying a one-goal lead into the final 20 minutes, the Panthers quickly added some insurane to their scoring total.

Directly off the third period’s opening faceoff, Marchand made a perfect pass to a cutting Bennett, who deflected the puck right under the crossbar to double the Cats’ lead just 10 seconds into the period.

That goal came in handy after Florida was victimized by a crazy bounce that ended up in the back of their net.

Directly off a faceoff win in the Panthers’ zone, a Gus Forsling pass attempt that was intended for Marchand on a set ‘face-off win’ play went off skate of Kevin Fiala and somehow bounced back toward the net and past Tarasov.

The fluky goal cut Florida’s lead to 3-2 with 15:12 on the clock.

That’s as close as the Kings would get, thanks to some strong defensive hockey and a key penalty kill in the final minutes.

On to the Hurricanes.

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Photo caption: Dec 17, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) celebrates after a goal by center Carter Verhaeghe (not pictured) against the Los Angeles Kings during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

Former Edmonton Oilers forward Milan Lucic has officially found his new team.

The Fife Flyers of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) have announced that they have signed Lucic for the remainder of the 2025-26 season. With this, the former Oilers winger is officially taking his talent overseas. 

Lucic signing with Fife comes after the veteran forward failed to secure a contract from his professional tryout (PTO) with the Springfield Thunderbirds of the AHL last month. He also had a PTO with the St. Louis Blues during training camp, but was injured during the preseason. Now, with this latest news, Lucic is set to play for an overseas club for the first time in his professional career.

Lucic played in five games this season with the Thunderbirds during his PTO, where he recorded zero goals, one assist, and a minus-7 rating. 

Lucic spent three seasons with the Oilers from 2016-17 to 2018-19, where he posted 39 goals, 65 assists, 104 points, and 715 hits in 243 games. His time with the Oilers ended during the 2019 NHL off-season when he was traded with a third-round pick to the Calgary Flames for James Neal.