Hurricanes reeling from another OT loss at home in Game 2 of East Final

RALEIGH, N.C. --The quiet in the Carolina Hurricanes' postgame locker room spoke to the disappointment they felt after coming out on the wrong end in overtime again against the Florida Panthers.

Matthew Tkachuk delivered the dagger again with his power-play goal 1:51 into overtime to give the Panthers a 2-1 victory in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final at PNC Arena on Saturday.

Coming two days after Tkachuk scored the winner in Florida's 3-2 quadruple overtime victory in Game 1 on Thursday, this was a double shot to Carolina's gut, leaving it in a 2-0 hole in the best-of-7 series heading to Florida for Game 3 on Monday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS).

"It's tough because, again, these are the tough losses," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "You're right there and you know you maybe should've had it tonight. It is what it is, though. So, we'll do the same routine we just kind of came through. … We've been kicked in the teeth here a lot in these last few years and we've always responded, so I'm pretty sure that we will the next game."

There are reasons for the Hurricanes to feel good about how they played in the first two games, but also definitive ones why they didn't win either, beginning with Sergei Bobrovsky.

The Panthers goalie stopped 100 of 103 shots in the first two games, including 37 of 38 Saturday. Bobrovsky did his best work in the opening 11:31, when the Hurricanes built a 20-1 advantage in shots on goal and had only a 1-0 lead to show for it from defenseman Jalen Chatfield's redirection 1:43 into the game. Bobrovsky also slid to his right to make a dazzling blocker save to rob Teuvo Teravainen of a goal at 13:53 of the second period to keep the score tied 1-1.

"Obviously, we'd like to get a few more goals, especially when we're buzzing like that," Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. "I think one goal wasn't going to cut it tonight. We had our chances, we had our looks to score a lot more than that, and they didn't go in tonight."

RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs Panthers series coverage]

The Hurricanes decision to start a fresher Antti Raanta (24 saves) in net instead of a fatigued Frederik Andersen after he made 57 saves in Game 1 would've looked like a smart one if they scored more than one on Bobrovsky, but he wasn't their only problem. They also have yet to find an answer to Aleksander Barkov, who scored a goal in each game, including a highlight-reel backhand after faking a between-the-legs shot to pull the Panthers even at 1-1 at 7:43 of the second.

Tkachuk's two overtime winners also stand out and emphasize the lack of production from Carolina's top players, who have scored one 5-on-5 goal through 10-plus periods of play in the series, and that came from Chatfield. The Hurricanes power play, which scored twice in Game 1, came up empty on three tries Saturday.

"We definitely created the opportunities and that's what you're looking for," Brind'Amour said. "I think I saw an empty net tonight. We all thought it went in and [Bobrovsky] made a great save (on Teravainen). So, he's making great saves, for sure. It's a bounce here or there and we could've been up 2-0. We're not. The reality of it is we're not.

"We're in a hole, but we've just got to keep digging."

The Hurricanes can take hope from how close the two games have been and how they controlled play for stretches in each of them. The Panthers and Hurricanes have either been tied or within one goal through 201 minutes and 38 seconds of play in the series. That's the fourth-longest span through the first two games of a Stanley Cup Playoff series in NHL history, but Carolina has nothing to show for it.

"Obviously, it stings," Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook said. "We wanted to get the one tonight to split it going back, but now our mindset is we've got to go get that next one and we'll go from there. You get to overtime and it's a tossup and they get the power play and get their goal tonight. So, we've got to have a mindset to get that next game and, hopefully, we can get it."

Carolina was able to get off the mat following an exhausting loss Thursday and take the play to Florida from the drop of the puck Saturday. Now, they'll have to find a way to do it again Monday and get a better result or they'll be one loss from elimination and the Panthers will be one win away from a berth in the Stanley Cup Final.

"We're going to have to find a way," Staal said. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy and we're going to have to find ways to get some mojo going, and maybe a little greasy road win will get us going."