5 Takeaways: Panthers Heading Home after Game 4 Loss to Islanders

With a 5-1 loss to the New York Islanders in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Friday afternoon, the Florida Panthers are heading home much earlier than they had hoped for when they began their postseason run.

"It definitely sucks to lose and to end the season like that," Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky said. "But we have a great group of guys. Everybody's working hard and everybody gets good experience from it. We have to learn and move on."

After the game, Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville hammered home - three times, to be exact - what the team will need to do be more successful in 2020-21.

"We've got to learn what it takes to be consistent, consistent, consistent," said Quenneville, who wraps up his first season in Florida. "That makes a good pro."

New York's offensive hero throughout the series, Anthony Beauvillier opened the scoring in Game 4 when he sent a no-look backhand shot toward net that squeaked through Bobrovsky's pads and into the net to make it 1-0 at 11:32 of the first period.

Following a turnover in the neutral zone, Beauvillier was back it again soon after, taking a pass cross-ice pass from Mathew Barzal on a 2-on-1 break and sending a shot past Bobrovsky to put the Panthers in a 2-0 hole just 3:38 after his first goal.

Coming off a big win in Game 3, the slow start was not what Florida had envisioned.

"It's hard to dissect right now," Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle said. "It's a lot of emotions. Going into the game, feeling really good about where we're at, and then you've got to tip your hat to [the Islanders].

"They played really well in their D zone. I think we only had like 11 shots after the second. They were blocking shots. Their goalie played really well. You've got to tip your cap to them, but it's obviously disappointing."

Sent to the power play late in the first period, Mike Hoffman extended his goal streak to three games when he capped off a tic-tac-toe play with a one-timer that blew straight past Semyon Varlamov to cut New York's lead down to 2-1 at 18:41.

But despite that spark from Hoffman, the Islanders started to pull away again from the Cats in the second period when Brock Nelson lit the lamp to make it 3-1 at 8:01.

Then, in the third period, Barzal and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored at 10:34 and 17:17, respectively, to secure the 5-1 final and send New York into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"It's tough right now," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. "Obviously we didn't get the result we wanted. We wanted to go further. We wanted to battle for the Cup. Now, this one is over. We can't really think about anything else. Playing in these games, it's a totally different atmosphere.

"Even without the fans in the stands, you feel that playoff atmosphere and playoff-type of game. Nothing is easy… It was a good experience for us, but we should not be happy with this result. We want to be a lot better."

1. HOFFMAN SCORES AGAIN

Hoffman helped keep the game close early on this afternoon.

With the Panthers in need of a spark, Jonathan Huberdeau sent a pinpoint pass through the slot to Hoffman, who then blasted a one-timer from the right circle straight past Varlamov to the deficit down to 2-1 at 18:41 of the opening period.

A consistent source of offense throughout the series, Hoffman finished as Florida's leader in points (5) and goals (3) during the postseason. After going without a point in Game 1, the 30-year-old winger went on to post points in three straight contests.

Hoffman now also stands as just the third player in Panthers history to score goals in three straight games during the postseason, joining Reilly Smith (2016) and Dave Lowry (1996).

2. WITH AND WITHOUT POWER

The Panthers saw steady production from their power play throughout the series.

After going 0-for-1 in Game 1, they went on to record at least goal with the extra attacker over their next three games. And with a 1-for-5 performance in Game 4, they ended up closing out the series 4-for-14 (28.6 percent) on the man advantage.

"Our power play, we relied on it a lot in this series," Quenneville said.

Unfortunately, goals at 5-on-5 were a lot harder to come by.

Of the seven goals the Panthers scored during the series against the Islanders, only three came at even strength. That number is even more shocking given the fact that they ranked fourth in the league with 158 goals at 5-on-5 during the regular season.

Yandle said that New York's defense "made it hard on us in all three zones."

"They didn't give you anything easy," Yandle said of the Islanders, who allowed the eighth-fewest 5-on-5 goals in the league during the regular season. "Even with the high-end talent that we have, it was tough for guys to make plays. You've got to credit them. They did a good job. They're definitely a tough team to play against."

3. BOBROVSKY'S BEST STILL TO COME

Bobrovsky believes there are some building blocks to work with from this loss.

Playing well enough to give the Panthers a chance to win during all four games of the series against the Islanders, the 31-year-old goaltender saw plenty of action in Game 4 while turning aside 33 of the 37 shots that came careening toward his net.

"As the games went on, I felt better and better," Bobrovsky said. "I felt better flow, better groove… It could be worse, could be better. It is what it is. It's experience for all of us. Again, we just have to learn from it and be better next season."

More than once during the series, Bobrovsky came up big with a huge save to keep the Panthers in the game. None, however, were bigger than the three stops he made in succession to keep the Cats within striking distance against early on in Game 4.

On the penalty kill early in the second period, Bobrovsky sent social media into a GIF-sharing frenzy after he quickly thwarted rebound attempts from both Anders Lee and Barzal in rapid succession to keep Florida's deficit contained at just 2-1.

"I liked how he battled in that second period," Quenneville said. "He made those three big saves in a row. It was 2-1 at the end of the first period, and all of the sudden he makes those saves and we're still in the hockey game. He did what he had to do."

4. THE JOURNEY

With their playoff hopes dashed, the Panthers can only look forward.

Following a multi-month lockdown due to the coronavirus, players put in countless hours of work in order to return to the ice and compete. And although the end result clearly isn't what they'd hoped for, players believe they've grown from the journey.

For although the sting of being on the outside of the playoff picture once again will hurt for a while, Barkov believes the Panthers are still on the cusp of finally evolving into the perennial contenders that they've been working hard to become for so long.

There's only one direction to go from here.

"I think the only way is up," Barkov said. "We got good experience in these playoffs. Obviously not the result we wanted, but we got in these games -- not the regular payoffs, but qualifications or whatever. It's still a playoff game.

"If you lose you're out, if you win you're in. It was good to get those couple of games for our organization and our team. Now, we've got more experience in that type of game. I think the only way is up. We're really excited about the future of our team."

5. DRAFT LOTTERY

Speaking of the future, the Panthers are now counting on some lottery balls.

After being eliminated from the postseason, the Panthers are now one of eight teams that will have a 12.5 percent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft when the Phase 2 of the NHL Draft Lottery is held on Monday.

The lottery will begin at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN and NHL Network.

For any of the eight teams that failed to advance beyond the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, Alexis Lafreniere is considered to be quite the consolation prize. Pegged as the top prospect in this year's draft by NHL Central Scouting, the 18-year-old forward led the QMJHL in scoring this season with 112 points (35 goals, 77 assists) in 52 games.

If the Panthers don't claim the top pick, they will be assigned anywhere from 9-15 depending on where they sat in the standings when the regular season was paused.

Stay tuned to @FlaPanthers on Twitter for updates regarding the lottery.