5 TAKEAWAYS: Golden Knights 7, Panthers 2

LAS VEGAS --The Florida Panthers are no strangers to adversity.

Despite falling behind 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Final with a 7-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Monday, the Panthers are still full of confidence as they head back to Sunrise.

Of course, that's because that confidence has been earned.

After having already come back from a 3-1 series deficit against the 65-win Boston Bruins in Round 1, a 2-0 hole against the Knights seems far less daunting in the grand scheme of things.

"It's never over," Panthers forward Anton Lundell said following Game 2 in Sin City. "We saw that against Boston. We still believe. We're down [2-0 in the series], but it's not over. We want to rest, recover and be ready to go on home ice. We'll get a lot of energy from our home fans."

Heading home for Game's 3 and 4, the Cats have won four of their last five games at FLA Live Arena.

"We're excited to get home," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "Clearly we have to be strong at home, and we're prepared to be. … We feel that our best hockey is still ahead of us."

For a quick recap of the game, click HERE.

To read up on five key takeaways for the Cats, continue below.

1. PENALTIES AND POWER PLAYS

The penalty minutes were plentiful in Game 2.

Combining for the second-most PIMs in a single game in the history of the Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers and Knights teamed up for 148 penalty minutes as tempers flared from start to finish.

Of those penalty minutes, 84 belonged to the Panthers.

"I think we're a big physical team," Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said after the game. "That's how we've played the last second half of the year and been successful. I just don't think there's teams that play as physical as we do, so maybe you guys think that's a little bit too much."

While Sam Reinhart, Anthony Duclair, Casey Fitzgerald and Nick Cousins all received one 10-minute misconduct near the end of the game, Tkachuk someone garnered two. While he admitted after the game that his second misconduct was likely deserved, his first was definitely a bit confusing.

In the waning minutes of the second period, Tkachuk lit up Knights star forward Jack Eichel with a booming hit near the opposing blue line. Coming to the defense of their teammate, Vegas players then went after Tkachuk and a big scrum ensued. After the game, even Eichel, who returned to the bench to start the third period, said the hit was clean.

But in the aftermath, Tkachuk was still given a 10-minute misconduct and a roughing penalty.

"They might have thought that game was a little bit out of reach maybe in the second period, but we certainly didn't," Tkachuk said when asked about being put in a timeout with plenty of time still left in the game. "We've scored seven goals in a period before. You never know in playoffs."

Right after returning, Tkachuk scored and then quickly received his second misconduct.

But regardless of how the whistles are blowing, the Panthers know they need to be better on special teams in order to start mounting their comeback in the series.

After going 2-for-7 on the man advantage in Game 1, the Knights followed that up by going 2-for-4 with the extra attacker in Game 2. By comparison, the Panthers, who operated at over 30% on the man advantage in the two previous rounds, have gone 0-for-7 on the power play thus far.

2. A HILL TO CLIMB

Yes, Vegas has scored 12 goals through two games.

But it's been the man between the pipes that has been their MVP.

Fresh off a 33-save performance in Game 1, Adin Hill turned aside 29 of 31 shots in Game 2.

Helping the Knights weather an early push from the Panthers, two of Hill's biggest moments came in the first period. First, it was his stop on a breakaway for Carter Verhaeghe. Later in the period, it was six straight saves on the penalty kill right before Vegas made it 2-0.

In the end, Hill finished a perfect 12-for-12 on the penalty kill.

That being said, the Panthers might've found a recipe for success in the third period. Of the two goals they scored, both came off of rebounds. Could more pucks on net rattle Hill? We'll see.

In the series thus far, Hill has saved 3.02 goals above expected.

3. LUNDELL'S QUICK STRIKE

It was Anton Lundell that finally solved Hill for the Panthers.

Just 14 seconds into the third period, the 21-year-old forward followed up on a shot from Anthony Duclair and fired the rebound into the cage to trim Florida's deficit down to 4-1.

Coming out of the intermission flying, Lundell's goal is tied for the ninth-fastest goal to begin a period in the history of the Stanley Cup Final.

"He's been just a great story for us in terms of what we believe will be learned development," Maurice said. "He gets to keep these things. It's not like he's been hot or he's been getting lucky for a couple of weeks. … Some of it's just confidence -- hold onto pucks, create things."

Making a dent on the scoresheet in each of the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final, Lundell is now sitting on nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 18 games during the postseason.

In the middle of Ryan Lomberg and Sam Reinhart on the third line, the Cats have led 34-22 in shot attempts, 15-9 in shots on goal, 15-14 in scoring chances and 1.27-0.99 in expected goals when Lundell has been on the ice at 5-on-5 in the first two games against the Knights.

In Game 2, Lundell also went 6-for-12 (50%) in the faceoff circle.

4. OFF THE RUSH

The Knights have found success generating offense off the rush through two games.

Moving forward, finding a way to slow them down is priority No. 1 for the Panthers.

"The parts of our game that we know we can improve, and we're going to have to get to real fast," Maurice said. "There's no doubt about that. We'll have a really simple game plan. I don't think it's about scoring goals in this series. It's about defending the rush, and we weren't great at that."

While the line of Ivan Barbashev, Jonathan Marchessault and Eichel has been very effective for the Knights, the trio of Brett Howden, Chandler Stephenson and Mark Stone has also been doing a lot of damage off the rush, particularly in Game 2 with Howden touching the twine two times.

At 5-on-5, Vegas has led 3-1 in goals with that line on the ice.

But having already faced other lethal lines in the playoffs, the Cats feel up to the task.

"Their rush game is elite, for sure," Maurice. "But we've faced other teams like that. We're just put ourselves in a position coming to handle the rush where we've had to give more ice than we've wanted to give. Some of that's based on their speed. They're going to get those chances. Some of it is just our positioning. I'm going to separate both games because I think they were different for me."

5. UPDATE ON GUDAS

The Panthers suffered a big blow to their blue line in Game 2.

In the early goings of the first period, hard-nosed defenseman Radko Gudas left the game and did not return after being hit in the head by Barbashev as he was lining up for a hit of his own.

The NHL's hit king in recent seasons, Gudas leads the playoffs with 81 hits.

"He's been such a warrior for us," Tkachuk said. "All the little things he does that nobody really sees, like the physicality, he's kind of like the leader back there with the way he plays, that style. He's such an important payer for us. Definitely wasn't ideal for us to see him go down early."

On Tuesday, Maurice had no immediate updates on Gudas.

"All that testing will be done today, and then done when we get back," he said.

As for his importance to the Panthers, it cannot be understated.

"He's really important," Maurice said of Gudas, who also has three assists and 30 blocked shots in the playoffs. "He's a force, but he's also a much better hockey player. He makes the highlight film because he's such a physical guy, but the quality of his play is very, very high."

The next update on Gudas is expected to come after Wednesday's practice.