5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers can't find 'extra gear' in Game 3 loss to Lightning

TAMPA - The Panthers find themselves with their back against the wall after falling behind 3-0 in their second-round series against the Lightning with a 5-1 defeat at Amalie Arena on Sunday.
Making a habit out of clawing their way back from seemingly insurmountable odds during the regular season, the "Comeback Cats" will now look to keep their playoff run alive when they reconvene with their cross-state rival in just over 24 hours for a do-or-die Game 4 on Monday.

"That's got to be our focus," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said. "We're a good team when the backs are against the wall and [things] looks bleak. Hopefully we can find some passion, some energy and some joy out of that. It's more frustration than joy right now."
Lighting the lamp for the third straight game, Corey Perry opened the scoring for the Lightning in Game 3 when he stuck out his stick and tipped a point shot from Ryan McDonagh that clipped just off Sergei Bobrovsky before trickling into the net to make it 1-0 at 13:21 of the first period.
Finally breaking through on the power play for the first time this postseason, the Panthers pulled even when Sam Reinhart, who registered a team-leading 16 goals with the extra attacker during the regular season, whipped a shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy from the slot to make it 1-1 at 16:07.
Putting the Lightning back on top, Erik Cernak, who entered this afternoon's matchup with just one goal in 59 career playoff games, skated into the left circle and fired a rising shot that sailed through traffic and into the right corner of the cage to make it 2-1 at 2:54 of the second period.
Moments after getting robbed on several promising scoring chances on the power play, the Panthers fell behind 3-1 when Steven Stamkos fired home a one-timer in transition at 10:23.
"Not a lot of puck luck," Brunette said of the team's missed scoring chances. "A lot of credit to them. When you fall behind, they're a tough team to come back on. Kind of fell behind here this whole series. We haven't found that extra gear when we're behind, which we found all year."
Trying to mount a comeback late in the third period, the Panthers were denied the chance at making it a one-goal game when Jan Rutta came to Vasilevskiy's aid and batted a loose puck out of harm's way as it rolled towards the goal line with just over five minutes left in regulation.
Icing the game away soon after, Nikita Kucherov and Stamkos scored empty-net goals at 16:06 and 17:15, respectively, to lock down the 5-1 win and give the Lightning a 3-0 lead in the series.
While the odds are stacked against the Panthers, four teams in NHL history have come from behind to win a playoff series when trailing 3-0, with the Kings doing it most recently in 2014.
Add that to the fact that the Panthers won eight or more games in a row on three separate occasions during the regular season, and there's still plenty of hope in Florida's locker room.
"We know we can do it," Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau said when asked about getting back in the series. "We have that kind of team. We have resilience. We've shown it all year."
But before they can win four games in a row, they know they'll need to just win one first.
"I think the best part is that we're back at it again tomorrow," Reinhart said. "You don't want much time in these situations to think about it too much. You just want to go out there, play and put on a better performance. It's another opportunity, and we'll obviously bring our best effort."
Here are five takeaways from Sunday's loss in Tampa…

1. BREAKING THROUGH

Heading into Game 4, the power play looks to be up and running again.
Snapping a 0-for-25 stretch on the man advantage, Reinhart took a backhand pass from Huberdeau and beat Vasilevskiy with a shot from the slot to make it 1-1 in the first period.

"It's kind of been losing us hockey games," Reinhart said when asked about the team's lack of production on the power play, which ranked tied for fifth in the NHL during the regular season with at 24.4%. "It was nice to get one early. … It's obviously important come playoff time."
Following an impressive first season in South Florida in which he set new career-highs in goals (33), assists (49) and points (82), Reinhart has scored three goals in nine games this playoffs.
Going 1-for-3 in Game 3, Florida's power play generated seven scoring chances.
"I really liked the first two [power plays], but didn't love the third one," said Brunette, who tweaked the power-play units for the game. "For some reason we almost looked back to where we were for two games. It needs to be quicker, and I thought it was quick for the first two."

2. THE SECOND PERIOD

The Panthers likely deserved a better result in the second period.
Despite leading 16-10 in scoring chances in the middle frame, the Panthers headed into the third period trailing 3-1 as the Lightning were able to take advantage of their limited chances.
After that, the Cats were forced to play catch-up.
"It's tough not to get frustrated," Reinhart said. "I think there's certain things we're doing well, but obviously it's not enough bodies around the net picking up those loose opportunities. It's frustrating when you're that close but you're not ultimately able to get it in."
Coming oh-so-close to scoring on multiple occasions in the second period, the toughest break for the Panthers came when, after throwing literally everything they had at Tampa Bay's net on a very strong looking power play, Stamkos buried a one-timer soon after to make it a 3-1 game.
"When you don't get rewarded, don't get those goals, it's certainly tough to stick with it," Reinhart said. "I think we got away from that a little bit even though it was working."

3. VASY STANDS TALL

The "Big Cat" continues to make life hard on his fellow felines.
Robbing the Panthers of more than a few goals this afternoon, Vasilevskiy stopped 34 of 35 shots. According to NaturalStatTrick.com, 12 of those 13 saves were considered high-danger, including a huge stop early when he denied Maxim Mamin on a breakaway in the first period.
"He's making saves," Huberdeau said. "We're having chances, but we're not getting bounces."
After surrendering 18 goals over the course of his first six starts in this postseason, Vasilevskiy, starting with an outstanding 30-save performance against the Maple Leafs in Game 7 of Round 1, has given up just one goal in four straight starts, including three straight against the Panthers.
Moving forward, it's all about continuing to apply pressure until finally breaking through.
"Obviously he's world-class and he's going to put out performances like he has, but I think the thing we've got to stick with is what is working for us," Reinhart said when asked about trying to solve Vasilevskiy. "I think in that third period we got away from it a little bit. That's probably connected to a little bit of the frustration from having success but not ultimately scoring goals."

4. BLOCK PARTY

Vasilevskiy has also received a lot of help from the players in front of him.
Entering this afternoon's contest leading the NHL in blocks this postseason with 147, the Lightning added 19 more while putting it all on the line against the Panthers in Game 3.
Led by a team-high four blocks from Victor Hedman, 11 different players got in the way of at least one shot against the Panthers. In three games against Florida, the Lightning have racked up 59 blocks, which has helped limit the number of high-danger shots Vasilevskiy has faced.
"Credit to them, they're blocking every shot," Huberdeau said. "They're a good team. You can see why they won two Stanley Cups when they're playing that way."

5. FINDING GOALS

In order to get back in this series, the Panthers know they need to score more.
After leading the NHL with a franchise-record 337 goals during the regular season, the Panthers, who boast six 20-goal scorers, have scored just three goals during this series.
Held to just a single goal in all three games against Tampa Bay, the high-flying Panthers scored one or fewer goals just three times during the 82 games they played leading up to the playoffs.
"During the season it was going in, and now it's just not going our way," Huberdeau said. "It's 3-0. We can come back. We just need to get one win and score more than one goal a game."
The potential is obviously there, but players know it's up to them to unlock it.
"It's on us," Huberdeau said. "I've got to be better. I think every guy can do a little bit better, play more of our game. I feel we're giving them the puck, and that's what they're waiting for."