5 Takeaways: Panthers Fall Behind Early, Can't Solve Price in Loss

MONTREAL -The Florida Panthers know they can't keep playing catch-up.
For the third straight game, the Panthers went down early and couldn't recover, ending their final back-to-back set of the season with a 6-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at Bell Centre.

Prior to tonight, the Panthers had surrendered 14 goals in consecutive losses to Boston and Toronto.
"In this league it's tough to come back from two or three goals," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "It's been a pattern in the last few games. Before the Boston game, we thought that we were playing some pretty solid hockey. We've come into these last three games and we've hit a bit of a wall."
After falling behind 3-0 in the first period, Artturi Lehkonen and Phillip Danault each scored in the second to extend Montreal's lead to 5-0 heading into the final period. In the third, Frank Vatrano netted Florida's only goal of the night, cutting the deficit to 5-1 with a power-play goal just 1:35 into the frame.
At 11:48, Max Domi lit the lamp to secure the 6-1 final.
Despite the Panthers finishing with advantages in both shots on goal (34-27) and scoring chances (28-23), their comeback efforts were continuously stifled by the performance of Canadiens goaltender Carey Price. The 31-year-old stopped 33 of 34 shots, including eight saves on nine high-danger shot attempts.
"We came out hard and we outshot them," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. "Of course their goalie is one of the best in the world. You've got to give credit to him, but at the same time we have to play better defensively. We can't allow them to get so many chances."
After winning four in a row, the Panthers (33-32-12) have lost five out of their last six games.
"We want to finish hard," Boughner said. "It's a proud group in there. They're working hard."
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday's loss in Montreal…

1. FALLING BEHIND

The Panthers got off on the wrong foot once again.
After surrendering four goals in the first period of Monday's loss in Toronto, their opening frame against the Canadiens wasn't much better. Before the clock reached 15 minutes, they found themselves already down in a 3-0 hole. Of Montreal's first nine shots on goal, three pucks ended up in the back of the net.
Tomas Tatar scored twice in the first to give himself four goals in four games against Florida this season.
"It's those same mistakes we do every game," Barkov said. "I know we talk about them all the time and try to eliminate them. We're playing against teams that are trying to make the playoffs… They're going to come out hard and play a 60-minute game. We need to do the same thing if we want to win."
The Panthers had their chances in the first period, but couldn't sneak anything into the net on either of their two trips to the power play. Of Price's 14 saves in the first, four came shorthanded. Heading into the first intermission, Florida was actually even with the Canadiens in total scoring chances (12-12).
"I liked our start," Boughner said. "Our first seven or eight minutes, we came out with energy. We were physical. There were some altercations, guys were into it. We had a lot of chances in the first period. It just seemed that when you make a mistake, it's in the back of our net… It's tough to play from behind."
Florida is now 15-21-5 this season when falling behind 1-0.

2. IN RELIEF

After being pulled early in Toronto on Monday, Sam Montembeault did the relieving tonight.
Entering the game after the Canadiens slipped their third goal past James Reimer at 14:28 of the first period, Montembeault went on to stop 15 of 18 shots over 45:32 of ice time. After making his NHL debut on March 2, the 22-year-old rookie continues to see a lot of playing time for the Panthers.
"We've pulled goaltenders the last two games in a row," Boughner said. "That's a tough position to be in, especially in a back-to-back. We've got a day off here tomorrow to get some rest and regroup."
In 10 appearances, Montembeault owns a 4-3-1 record with a .882 save percentage.
"It's unacceptable to leave our goalies out to dry the last three games," Panthers center Vincent Trocheck said.

3. SHOWING SOME FIGHT

The Panthers left some gloves on the ice tonight.
Hoping to spark a comeback effort, MacKenzie Weegar and Troy Brouwer both went toe-to-toe with Canadiens. In the first period, Weegar downed Paul Byron with an uppercut, while Troy Brouwer and Christian Folin exchanged blows in the second. Per my unofficial scorecard, Florida won both brawls.

According to HockeyFights.com, the Panthers are tied for sixth in the NHL in fight this season (17).
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4. FRANK IN FRONT

Vatrano celebrated his 200th NHL game with a goal.
With the Panthers on the power play to start the third period, Price made two initial saves on Vincent Trocheck and Denis Malgin before Vatrano was finally able to solve the former Vezina Trophy winner, hammering home a juicy rebound to cut the deficit down to 5-1 just 1:35 into the final frame.

In his second season with Florida, the 25-year-old winger has set new career-highs in several categories, including goals (23), assists (15) and points (38), while also leading the club's forwards in blocks (72).
Against the Canadiens, Vatrano posted a team-high two takeaways.

5. PLAYING WITH POWER

Win or lose, the power play has been kicking all season for the Cats.
Entering tonight's matchup with the second-ranked power play in the NHL (27.3 percent), the Panthers went 1-for-3 with the man advantage in Montreal. They have now scored with the extra attacker in 11 of their last 12 games, converting a league-best 34.2 percent (13-for-38) of their chances in that span.
Led by Keith Yandle's franchise-record 38 power-play points, Florida has four skaters with at least 30 points on the man advantage - a franchise first and the only team in the NHL with that many so far this season. They are also only one of three teams to have three players post at least 10 power-play goals.
Mike Hoffman leads the Panthers with 17 power-play goals, which ranks tied for third in the NHL.