Stamkos sits, Lightning winning streak ends with loss to Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Aaron Ekblad and Alex Wennberg each had a goal and an assist, and the Florida Panthers ended the Tampa Bay Lightning's six-game winning streak with a 5-2 victory at BB&T Center on Thursday.

The Lightning played without forward Steven Stamkos, who is day to day with a lower-body injury.
"There were spots in the game when we were OK, but for the most part we just played slow tonight for whatever reason," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after Tampa Bay had 41 shot attempts to 51 for Florida. "We've got better in us and we have to pick up our pace. We didn't shoot nearly enough pucks. We have to be a little more determined around their net."

Frank Vatrano and Carter Verhaeghe scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves for the Panthers (8-1-2).
Brayden Point scored twice, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves for the Lightning (9-2-1).
It was the first of three consecutive games between the teams, who will play here Saturday and at Amalie Arena on Monday.
"Obviously we're excited about playing this and meeting a big challenge today," Florida coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought the approach was outstanding with the guys, the excitement on the bench during the game. Obviously, next game is going to be a bigger challenge, but at the same time the excitement and the purpose behind how we played today was exactly how it had to be in order to be successful, and the execution, I couldn't have been happier."
Tampa Bay had not lost since Jan. 28, 1-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime.
Vatrano gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 8:56 of the first period.
"It was great (taking an early lead), especially against a team that's so talented and has been good for such a long time," Vatrano said. "We knew we had to start out on the right foot. We need to take the game to them, we can't wait around and feed into their transition game that they want to play. We need to play hard-nosed hockey, and we did that for a full 60."

Wennberg made it 2-0 at 8:31 of the second when he one-timed Jonathan Huberdeau's pass on a 2-on-1. Wennberg scored in a third straight game, and Huberdeau became the first player to have 300 assists for the Panthers.
Point made it 2-1 with a power-play goal at 10:55 before Ekblad answered on the power play with a slap shot from the left face-off circle to make it 3-1 at 12:54.
Verhaeghe, facing the Lightning for the first time since helping them win the Stanley Cup last season, extended the lead to it 4-1 at 14:55 when his centering pass bounced in off the skate of Tampa Bay defenseman Erik Cernak.
Point made it 4-2 at 54 seconds of the third period with a second power-play goal, shooting over Bobrovsky from a sharp angle.
"We competed harder and got more physical in that third period, so we need to take the positives from that and bring it over into the next [game]," Point said. "We showed we wanted the puck and started winning some battles. That's a great hockey team over there, and we have to be ready for the next one. They exposed us with their speed, and we have to try to counter that and come ready to play."
Brett Connolly scored into an empty net with 1:00 left for the 5-2 final.
"It's definitely a big win for us," Bobrovsky said. "Tampa is a really good team. They're really balanced throughout the lineup. But I thought we played better than them tonight. We played all zones. We played great defensively, we played great offensively. It's a well-deserved win for us and we move on. ... We have to enjoy it tonight and prepare for the next game against them. We're going to see a different team. It's going to be even more interesting to compete against them next game."
NOTES: Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli (undisclosed) left the game with 8:34 remaining in the third period. "It didn't look great when he came off, but we'll know more later," Cooper said. … Point has scored 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in a seven-game point streak. ... Huberdeau's 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) are tied for the most through the Panthers' first 11 games of a season (Scott Mellanby, 1995-96). He has played 547 games for Florida.