Goaltending shuffle: The Panthers used three starting goalies in the first five games. Rookie Spencer Knight delivered the best play, with 36 saves in Game 5 at BB&T Center, a 4-1 win that staved off elimination. But that it got to Knight was a significant problem. Sergei Bobrovsky and Driedger could not get the job done through four games, a big reason why the Panthers were down 3-1 in the series. Bobrovsky started Game 1 and allowed five goals on 40 shots. Driedger started Game 2 and made 26 saves in a 3-1 loss. He started Game 3, but allowed five goals in the second period and was replaced by Bobrovsky, who started Game 4, but gave up five goals on 14 shots and was replaced by Driedger in the second.
PK problems: The Panthers struggled against the Lightning's potent power play, going 12-for-20 (60.0 percent). They allowed three power-play goals against in Game 1, two each in Games 3 and 4, and one in Game 6. It was different from the Panthers' success against the Lightning's power play in the regular season, when they were 82.8 percent on the penalty kill (24-for-29) and scored one shorthanded goal. The difference was the addition of forward Nikita Kucherov to Tampa Bay's power play. Kucherov, who didn't play in the regular season, scored seven points (three goals, four assists) on the man-advantage.
Unsustained success: The Panthers didn't handle success well. It started in Game 1, when they couldn't hold leads of 2-1 and 4-3, and lost 5-4. They came back to win 6-5 in overtime in Game 3 after giving up a two-goal first period lead. It was an emotional and hopeful win, but they couldn't build on it in Game 4, losing 6-2. Game 5 arguably was their best of the series, a 4-1 win to avoid elimination. They were optimistic about their chances to force Game 7, but got shut down in Game 6. It seemed that every time the Panthers had momentum, be it in-game or between games, they couldn't keep a grasp on it.
