5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers 'learn a valuable lesson' in Game 1 loss to Caps

SUNRISE, Fla. -Unable to recover from some uncharacteristically self-inflicted wounds, the Panthers saw a 2-1 lead in the third period slip through their fingers in an eventual 4-2 loss to the Capitals in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at FLA Live Arena on Tuesday.
"Anything they got, we kind of gave to them," said Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who returned the lineup after missing the final six weeks of the regular season with a lower-body injury. "That's often the situation in a hockey game with mistakes. We made some crucial ones.

"All of us can do a better job taking care of each other and making sure those things don't happen. Like I said, we learned a valuable lesson. It's first of four [games], not first of one. It's important we get back on the horse and take care of business the rest of the series."
With the Panthers in penalty trouble early, the Capitals struck first when Tom Wilson sent a rebound past Sergei Bobrovsky at the end of a power play to make it 1-0 at 3:48 of the first period.
Getting the Panthers on the board and evening things up, Sam Bennett flew down the ice and ripped a wicked wrist shot past Vitek Vanecek from beyond the circles to make it 1-1 at 17:55.
Standing on his head to limit the damage for the Panthers, Bobrovsky turned aside 15 of 16 shots he saw in the opening 20 minutes, including going 7-for-8 on shots on the penalty kill.
"For the most part we played a pretty good game until the third," Bennett said. "They had a good push, and we didn't have enough of a pushback. We had some good chances tonight, for sure."
With momentum on their side, the Panthers took their first lead of the game just 43 seconds into the second period when Claude Giroux crashed the net and tapped in a rebound to make it 2-1.
Tying the game for the Capitals, Evgeny Kuznetsov beat Bobrovsky on a breakaway after Alex Ovechkin generated a turnover at the blue line to make it 2-2 at 8:14 of the third period. Giving Washington the lead soon after, T.J. Oshie re-directed a centering feed to make it 3-2 at 10:37.
With 48.2 seconds left in regulation, Lars Eller connected on a long empty-netter to make it 4-2.
"I think we had to figure out it's going to be hard," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said. "We haven't had a lot of hard games. We didn't handle it as well as we'd like and weren't as sharp as we wanted to be. We lost a little energy. This was a good eye opener. This is playoff hockey."
Looking to pull even in the series, the Panthers will host the Capitals for Game 2 on Thursday.
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday's loss in Sunrise…

1. BENNY NETS ONE

Bennett continues to live up to his postseason reputation. Known as "Playoff Sam" for good reason, the grizzled forward got the game all square late in the first period when he wired home a shot to get the Panthers on the board and make it 1-1.

"We're still in good spirits," Bennett said. "We still know how good of a team we are. There's no panic in the locker room whatsoever. Everyone's still positive. We'll learn from that game and move on. It's a long series."
The 13th goal of his playoff career, Bennett has tallied six points (two goals, four assists) in six postseason games since joining the Panthers prior to last year's trade deadline. Also bringing a physical presence, he dished out a team-leading eight hits against the Capitals in Game 1.

2. PLAYOFF G

It's always great to see deadline acquisitions doing damage in the playoffs.
Bringing fans to their feet, Giroux followed up on a shot from Brandon Montour and buried the ensuing rebound to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead less than a minute into the second period. Acquired from the Flyers back in March, it was the 26th goal of his playoff career.

Producing 23 points (three goals, 20 assists) in 18 games with the Cats in the regular season, Giroux had registered 73 points (25 goals, 48 assists) in 85 playoff games with Philadelphia.
Strong in the dot as always, he went 9-for-14 (64.3%) in the faceoff circle in Game 1.

3. EKBLAD RETURNS

What we saw from Ekblad tonight bodes well for the rest of the series.
Playing in his first game since suffering a lower-body injury back on March 18 at Anaheim, the star defenseman recorded two shots on goal and two hits while skating a team-high 24:11.
"I thought he looked really good," Brunette said. "Not quite where he left off, but to step in after that much time and play that kind of hockey was pretty impressive."
Despite being limited to just 61 games, Ekblad reached new career-highs in assists (42) and points (57) during the regular season, while also leading the Cats in ice time per game (24:55).
Even after sitting out the last six weeks, he felt no worse for wear.
"I didn't really feel it all," Ekblad said of the injury. "That's a plus, for sure."

4. BOB PLAYS BIG

Bobrovsky certainly deserved a better result tonight.
Standing tall against a persistent attack from the Capitals, he surrendered just three goals on 37 shots, including making seven key stops on the penalty kill to keep the score close for the Cats.
For Bobrovsky, who set a franchise record with 39 wins during the regular season, the loss was just his second since late February, an incredible stretch in which he registered a 13-2-0 record.

"Excellent game," Brunette said. "He kept us in early. Unfortunately at the end we didn't give him a chance to win a hockey game for us."
Per NaturalStatTrick.com, all three goals against for Bobrovsky tonight were on high-danger shots.
"He made some huge saves," Ekblad said. "That's the Bob we love to see."

5. SLOWED DOWN

Facing down the league's top-ranked offense during the regular season, the Capitals did a good job of slowing down Florida's potent attack during tonight's game, especially in the neutral zone.
According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Panthers mustered just 20 scoring chances at 5-on-5.
During the regular season, they were held to 20 or fewer scoring chances in just 14 games.
"They clogged us up pretty good and we didn't make adjustments," Brunette said. "We were a little slow with the puck. I thought we were a little slow all over the ice and our battle level wasn't where it needs to be. Those are your lessons."
Factoring in all situations, Washington finished with a 30-23 advantage in scoring chances.
"They did a good job of preventing us from getting it deep," Bennett said. "We couldn't generate the speed we normally do through the middle. We've just got to get pucks deep and work our cycle game. That's when we're playing our best. We kind of did it to ourselves tonight."