5 TAKEAWAYS: Kings 4, Panthers 3

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Even though they dominated the second and third periods, the Florida Panthers couldn't recover from their slow start in a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings at FLA Live Arena on Friday.
With the loss, Florida now sits at 23-22-6 in the standings.
"We made a good push," Panthers forward Ryan Lomberg said. "At the same point, it's tough to lose a game like that. It's the time of the year where we've gotta start getting these points."
For a quick recap of the game, click
HERE
.
To read up on five key takeaways for the Cats, continue below.

1. FORSLING'S INJURY SCARE

The Panthers are breathing a sigh of relief.
After being sent feet-first into the boards during a foot race for the puck with Alex Turcotte, who was assessed a five-minute major penalty for boarding on the play, near the midway point of the second period, Gustav Forsling had to be helped off of the ice by both a trainer and a teammate.
Yet, despite those grim optics, the smooth-skating Swede returned for the third period.
"The guy's a tough competitor," Lomberg said when asked about Forsling's surprising return. "It gave us a bit of a boost to see him back out there and we just hope he's OK moving forward."
Playing in all situations for the Panthers, Forsling ranks second among the team's blueliners in scoring with 30 points (seven goals, 23 assists) this season. He also sits second on the team in plus/minus (+12) and ice time per game (23:44), as well as blocking the third-most shots (65).
"He does all things for us," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said.
Although it appears the Panthers dodged the bullet when it comes to a potential major injury for Forsling, the team plans to be cautious with him given the weeklong All-Star break that's coming up. With that said, his status for Saturday's matchup against the Boston Bruins is up in the air.
"We'll have to have a good look at him tomorrow," Maurice said. "I'm not 100% sure he's playing."

2. LOMBERG LIGHTS THE LAMP

The Lomberghini had a full tank against the Kings.
Flying all over the ice early on, Lomberg was finally rewarded when he backhanded a loose puck past Pheonix Copley from the slot to cut Florida's deficit to 3-1 at 13:23 of the second period.

"It felt good," Lomberg said of his timely tally. "It gave the boys a bit of a jump. It's good that we were able to get going that way. But, again, without the win they don't really matter."
Pinning the Kings in their own zone for much of the game, the Panthers led 15-9 in shot attempts and 7-5 in scoring chances when Lomberg was on the ice, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
In 51 games this season, Lomberg has logged 13 points (seven goals, six assists).

3. MONTOUR'S MILESTONE

Brandon Montour showed a lot of patience on this goal.
He also made some history.
Passing up a point shot in favor of carrying the puck in a bit closer, Montour blasted a slap shot right past Copley from the left circle to cut Florida's deficit to 3-2 at 16:19 of the second period.

With the goal, Montour successfully extended his point streak to eight games, which pushed him past both MacKenzie Weegar (7 games in 2020-21) and Keith Yandle (7 games in 2018-19) for the longest such streak by a defenseman in franchise history.
"It's nice to get milestones, especially with a franchise like this," Montour said. "I enjoy my time here. The guys are great, the staff's great. My mindset, I'm just trying to make some plays, make something happen every time I'm out there."
Leading Florida's defensemen with a career-high 42 points (nine goals, 33 assists), Montour, who's averaging a career-high 24:27 of ice time per tilt, has tallied two goals and six assists during his streak, while also making a dent on the scoresheet in 10 of his last 12 games overall.

4. FLIPPING THE SWITCH

The Panthers appeared to flip a switch during the second period.
After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, they led 62-30 in shot attempts and 22-9 in high-danger shot attempts over the second and third periods. And even though they netted only two goals during those two periods, they generated 5.06 expected goals, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
"That's what we've been doing this year," Montour said. "We get down early and we take it to them after that. You don't want to be in a position where you've got to do that. You've got to play that way that we played in the second and the third right from the start."
Keeping the Cats off the board, Copley stopped 19 of 20 high-danger shots he faced.
"We didn't start the way we wanted to," Lomberg said. "We came alive there in the second and made a good push, but we've got to get the wins here."

5. SLOW ON THE ADVANTAGE

The Panthers have been on an absolute tear on the power play as of late.
But against the Kings, a bit of fatigue pumped the breaks.
Entering the matchup with at least one power-play goal in 11 of their last 13 games, the Panthers went 0-for-5 on the man advantage against Los Angeles. Over the course of those power plays, they had just five shots on goal while also allowing two shorthanded goals.
"They looked very aggressive because we were a bit slow," Maurice said when asked about the Kings' penalty kill. "What you saw on the power play is what you saw in our 5-on-5 game in the first period. We just couldn't get a handle on it, and when we did we were slow with our feet."
Since Jan. 1, Florida ranks first in the NHL with a 37% success rate on the power play.