Florida wasted no time opening the scoring. On the power play, a severe defensive breakdown by the Predators left Sam Reinhart and Bennett alone in front of the Predators’ Juuse Saros (21 saves); Reinhart dropped the puck for Bennett to easily bury 1:23 into the contest.

The Florida Panthers got back into the win column Tuesday night in Nashville as a disappointing season for the Predators slogs on. The big story for the Panthers was Justin Sourdif getting his first NHL goal in the second period.

Justin Sourdif, playing in just his fourth NHL game after being called up from AHL Charlotte on Monday, made a nice move to cut into Nashville’s zone and after a quick give-and-go with Jesper Boqvist, deflected a pass over Juuse Saros’ glove for his first NHL goal.

Nashville (20-30-7, 47 points) is in seventh place in the Central Division, six points ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks. With 25 games to play, and the team 18 points out of the final wild card sport, general manager Barry Trotz told the Tennessean he will begin selling off assets in order to build for the future.

The Nashville Predators (20-30-7) lost their captain, Roman Josi, to an upper-body injury as they fell 4-1 to the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers (35-21-3) Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena.