THREE THINGS: Holding the Lead, Line Shuffle and Mr. 2,000

For the second straight outing, the Blackhawks saw their lead evaporate in Florida as the Panthers took a 6-3 victory on Monday night, a win that was bolstered by a pair of empty-netters late.
"Very sour finish. I thought we competed pretty hard for a lot of the night, put ourselves in a position to win the game," head coach Jeremy Colliton said. "Boil it down, we just didn't have the desperation when the game was on the line at the key moments that they did. It's too bad because I think a lot of the guys for a lot of the night were really good… We're close, but ultimately the difference was the key moment in the game (a third-period power play that Florida scored shorthanded on), we weren't up to the task."

"I think we played a decent game. Way better than the first one," Kevin Lankinen said. "We battled harder. We had a good forecheck, creating chances. It was a good response from us. Obviously, tough one to swallow, but from where I sit, there are two choices you can make: we can bury you head and feel bad for yourself or just learn and keep move forward. That's what we're going to do."

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

HOLDING THE LEAD

The Blackhawks have struggled at times during their grueling stretch against some of the division's top teams in recent weeks. Long stretches of strong play have been undone during brief lapses in the game, and it's been the reason behind three of the four losses in their last five outings.
They saw a 3-0 lead against Tampa turn the other way just eight days ago, and have seen it twice in the most recent games against Florida after holding 1-0 and 3-1 leads, respectively.
"We've got to try to figure out how to compete with this top group. That's we want to be," Colliton said of using the stretch as a lesson going forward. "We know we're not there yet. We've got to keep improving. We're close, so that's probably the frustrating part. We're not that far away."
"It's a good reminder of what it takes to win in this league," Lankinen said. "Every team is good. It's not easy to win. We can't let the game slip away for five seconds or five minutes. It's going to cost you. I think we're learning that the heard way right now. In the long run, I'm sure we will mature, we will learn from this and we'll be an even better team coming up."

LINE SHUFFLE

After the top-line's offensive output had plateaued in recent games and Florida was able to find success the other way against them on Saturday night, Colliton & Co. promoted the normally defensive-minded David Kampf to center Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat on Monday night, the largest yet in an ever-growing role for the Blackhawks' most consistent centerman this season.
"I thought they were good," Colliton said fo the trio. "[We did it] trying to handle (Aleksander) Barkov and I thought they did a good job most of the night."
The move paid off offensively early in the first as well when Kampf's pursuit of Anthony Duclair in the offensive zone forced a turnover and then quickly found Patrick Kane in the slot for the opening goal.

The shuffle saw offensive success trickle down the lineup, too. Philipp Kurashev, who centered Kane and DeBrincat on Saturday night, moved back to a winger role opposite Mattias Janmark. Pius Suter, who was the top-line center in games prior before swapping roles with Kurashev two nights ago, moved to a center position between Dominik Kubalik and Brandon Hagel.
Both lines scored within minutes of each other in the second period at even strength -- Kurashev finishing a feed from Janmark and Suter starting the play that led to Hagel's second goal in as many outings.
Hagel (2G, 1A), Kampf (3A), Kane (1G, 3A) and Kubalik (1G, 1A), along with defenseman Duncan Keith (1G, 1A), now all have points in three straight games.

MR. 2,000

A week ago, all the focus was on Patrick Kane's 1,000th game milestone in Dallas and the elite company he joined by reaching the milestone. On Monday night, a crucial member of the Blackhawks' staff behind the scenes doubled that total with much less fanfare -- in part because he would've wanted it that way.
Troy Parchman, the team's head equipment manager, took part in his 2,000th professional game in the 6-3 loss. In his 26th year with the organization, 'Parchy' as he's known, has truly seen it all. Eleven of Chicago's 18 skaters on Monday night weren't even born yet when he started with the team back in 1994. Most of the seven that were were just toddlers at the time.

Along with head athletic trainer Mike Gapski, who celebrated his 2,500th NHL game last season, it's no surprise why the Chicago training and equipment staff is among the best in the league.