5 Takeaways: Panthers 'Meet the Challenge' in Win over Rival Lightning

SUNRISE, Fla. - Round 1 in the "Battle for the Sunshine State" goes to the Panthers.
Putting forth a dominating effort at both ends of the ice, the Panthers came out strong and never let their foot off the gas in a 5-2 win over the cross-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning at BB&T Center on Thursday night.

Owning the NHL's top-ranked defense, the Lightning had surrendered just four goals over their last four games prior to tonight's loss to the Panthers, which also brought their six-game winning streak to a halt.
"I thought we had a real strong game across the board," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought all the lines had a lot of speed. We had a lot of possession and zone time. I thought our defensemen had a tremendous gap starting in the offensive zone… I thought it was an excellent game."
Establishing their home-ice advantage, the Cats were on the attack from the moment the puck dropped.
Applying lots of pressure on Tampa Bay's goaltender, Owen Tippett eventually ended up with the puck on his stick behind the net. From there, he sent a pass toward the low slot right onto the stick of Frank Vatrano, who then fired a shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy to put Florida up 1-0 at 8:56 of the first period.
Overall, the Panthers couldn't have asked for a better opening period tonight.
In addition to carrying a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, they also managed to keep the Lightning's second-ranked offense in check. Leading 7-6 in shots on goal after 20 minutes, Florida also held sizeable advantages in shot attempts (20-12) and scoring chances (12-5), according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
"We knew we had to start on the right foot," Vatrano said. "We needed to take the game to them. We couldn't wait around and feed into their transition game. We needed to play hard-nosed hockey, and we did that for a full 60 [minutes]."
Feeding off that strong start, the floodgates opened in the second period.
Finishing off a 2-on-1 rush with Jonathan Huberdeau, Alex Wennberg lit the lamp for the third straight game to make it 2-0 at 8:31. From there, the Lightning briefly cut their deficit in half when Brayden Point scored on the power play at 10:55 to make it 2-1 after Florida was caught with too many men on the ice.
Answering right back with a goal of their own on the man advantage, Aaron Ekblad teed up a pass from Keith Yandle and blasted home a blistering one-timer to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead at 12:54. Just over two minutes later, Carter Verhaeghe pushed the advantage to 4-1 when scored off a defender at 14:55.
Keeping things interesting in the third period, Point managed to slip a shot past Bobrovsky for his second goal of the game to trim Tampa Bay's deficit down to 4-2 just 54 seconds into the final frame. But with a minute left in regulation, Brett Connolly cashed in on an empty-net goal from center ice to make it 5-2.
Off to one of their best starts in franchise history and showing no signs of slowing down, the Panthers (8-1-2) can claim first place in the Central Division when they host the Lightning (9-2-1) on Saturday.
"Obviously, we were excited about playing this and meeting a big challenge today," Quenneville said. "I thought the approach was outstanding with the guys with the excitement on the bench during the game. The next game is going to be a bigger challenge, but at the same time the excitement and the purpose behind how we played today was exactly how we had to be in order to be successful."
Here are five takeaways from Thursday's win in Sunrise…

1. STRIKING FIRST

There was no shortage of hard work on Florida's opening goal.
After having his initial shot just barely turned aside, Tippet recovered the puck behind the net and sent a pass to Vatrano, who then scored from on top of the blue paint to make it 1-0 at 8:56 of the first period.

"When you get off to a good start like that and get an O-zone shift right away, I think you build that confidence," Vatrano said of the success he and his linemates found tonight. "The past few games we've been working on it with Bru [assistant coach Andrew Brunette] after practice, kind of getting open and using each other to find those areas. Doing that extra work with those guys, it paid off tonight."
Bringing high energy to each and every shift, Vatrano has been a speedy staple on the team's third line throughout the early goings of this season. With 11 games in the books, he's amassed three points (two goals, one assist), 17 hits and four blocked shots while taking the ice for an average of 13:53 per contest.
"I think the big thing for us is that we've been mostly consistent every single night no matter who our competition is," Vatrano said of Florida's success. "Every game is a division game, so every game is important... It doesn't matter who you're playing, you've got to come out to play like a playoff game."

2. WENNBERG… AGAIN!

Wennberg is approaching "on fire" territory.
Touching the twine for the third straight game, the 26-year-old center collected a pass from Huberdeau and rifled a shot past Vasilevskiy and into the net to send Florida ahead 2-1 at 8:31 of the second period.

"He's a great player -- a smart two-way player who can make some plays -- and now he's scoring goals," Vatrano said of Wennberg. "Sometimes all it takes is getting that first one and then you keep rolling with it. But even when he wasn't scoring, he was still doing the little things right. He's very reliable defensively and it's great to see that all the work he's put in is paying off."
A crucial source of secondary scoring for the Panthers, Wennberg has produced six points (three goals, three assists) in 11 games this season. Looking re-energized after signing a one-year deal with Florida in the offseason, he's well on his way to easily eclipsing the 22 points he posted with Columbus in 2019-20.
"I think defensively he's always been in some real good spots," Quenneville said. "I thought today he had some excellent speed with possession. That line had some great shifts in the offensive zone."
Already the franchise's all-time leader in assists, Huberdeau also reached a personal milestone on Wennberg's goal by picking up the 300th helper of his career.
"It's cool to get 300 assists," said Huberdeau, who leads the team in both points (15) and assists (11). "It's a lot, but I want way more. I hope I can be in the league for a long time. I obviously like passing."

3. EKBLAD HAS POWER

Newsflash: The Panthers own the second-ranked power play in the NHL.
One of the reasons for that has been the emergence of Ekblad's versatile one-timer.
Able to let it rip from either circle, Ekblad showed off his powerful shot again tonight, taking a pass from Yandle and blasting a shot past Vasilevskiy and into the net to make it 3-1 at 12:54 of the second period.

Leading Florida's defenseman in scoring with nine points (four goals, five assists), Ekblad couldn't have asked for a better start to this season. As the team's No. 1 defenseman, the 25-year-old also averages the most ice time per game on the team (24:48) and is tasked with containing top players every game.

4. OLD FRIENDS

In his fist game against his former team, you knew Verhaeghe was going to make something happen.
Attempting to set up Wennberg for a goal with a long cross-ice pass, Verhaeghe's feed instead took a fortuitous bounce off former teammate Erik Cernak's skate from right around the net and squeaked just past Vasilevskiy and across the goal line to increase Florida's lead to 4-1 at 14:55 of the second period.

"It was fun playing against the old squad," said Verhaeghe, who won the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay as a rookie in 2019-20. "The whole team was kind of buzzing tonight. We felt good. We had energy right from the start."
In the midst of his first season with the Panthers after signing a two-year deal as a free agent in the offseason and making the drive across Alligator Alley, Verhaeghe currently leads the team with seven goals and has arguably been one of the biggest surprise stars throughout the early stages of 2020-21.
Hunting for goals all night long, Verhaeghe fired off a team-high five shots on goal against Tampa Bay.

5. BOBROVSKY WINS AGAIN

Bobrovsky's biggest save of the night might have been his first.
Less than five minutes into the opening period, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner stoned Ondrej Palat from all alone in front to keep the game scoreless and help the Panthers keep building their momentum.

"It's definitely a big win for us tonight," Bobrovsky said. "We know that Tampa is a really good team… I thought the guys did a great job. They didn't allow them to create anything. We had great sticks in the defensive zone. Our D held the blue line very well on the rush attacks. We crushed their attacks right in the beginning of the development."
Off to the first 5-0-1 start of his career, Bobrovsky has now been excellent in back-to-back games. After stopping 31 of 32 shots in a 2-1 win over Detroit on Tuesday, the 32-year-old veteran made 19 saves to pick up the victory against the Lightning tonight, including denying 1-of-2 shots from high-danger areas.
"He held the fort," Quenneville said. "Nice to see him get solid wins for us in back-to-back games."

BONUS: MISSING PIECES

The Panthers and Lightning both got bad news not long before puck drop.
While captain Steven Stamkos was scratched for Tampa Bay due to an lower-body injury, Florida was also forced to power on tonight without one of its top-line players after it was announced that Anthony Duclair, who has racked up six assists through 10 games, was added to the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list.
"When we get the news on something like this -- with the change in the protocol -- it's kind of like the way we are all year," Quenneville said. "You've got to be flexible. We kind of use the word nimble. A lot of unpredictability here."
Stay tuned for updates on Duclair's status in the coming days.