5 Takeaways: Panthers Win Streak Snapped in Loss to Canadiens

The Florida Panthers hit a bump in the road in their return from an elongated break.
Taking the ice for the first time since Jan. 21, the Panthers were unfortunately unable to pick up right where they left off heading into the break as their season-long winning streak was snapped at six games with a 4-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday afternoon.

"They're certainly a hard team to play against, and we weren't," Panthers center Brian Boyle said. "That showed. You can say what you want about coming off a break, but it is what it is and there was two points up for grabs. What we did out there wasn't near good enough to get them."
Nick Suzuki opened the scoring for the Canadiens when he took a touch pass from Joel Armia before sniping a shot from the right circle off of the rush to make it 1-0 at 5:25 of the first period.
Prior to this afternoon, Florida has scored first in each of its last six games.
"They came ready to play," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said of Montreal. "Right off the bat, they were engaged physically. They won all the loose puck battles and were first to pucks. They were much better in front of our net, and we weren't good in front of their net."
In the second, the Panthers fell into a deeper hole when Artturi Lehkonen tipped a shot through Sergei Bobrovsky's five-hole to double Montreal's advantage to 2-0 at 6:01. Not long after that, Tomas Tatar made it 3-0 when he lifted a puck into the net from right on the doorstep at 13:35.
Sent to the power play near the midway point of the third, Brendan Gallagher put the Canadiens on top 4-0 when he tipped in a long slap shot from Jeff Petry with 9:14 remaining in regulation.
Bobrovsky finished with 31 saves, while Carey Price stopped all 29 shots he faced to earn the 47th shutout of his career, which moved him past Ken Dryden for third on the team's all-time list.
"We have to bring it to another level," Bobrovsky said. "At this time of the year, the games and points are so important. It doesn't matter how long you've had a break, you have to find a way to get the wins and get the points. It's less and less games, so the points are crucial."
Here are five takeaways from Saturday's loss in Montreal…

1. A TOUGH SECOND

After doing a good job of weathering the storm and limiting the damage to just one goal in the opening 20 minutes, the game started to get away from the Panthers during the second period.
In addition to Lehkonen and Tatar both lighting the lamp, Montreal also finished with lopsided advantages over Florida in shots (11-4), shot attempts (30-8) and scoring chances (15-3) in the middle frame, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
"We gave up a little more than we have in the past on our end," Boyle said. "Overall, there were lots of mistakes. You can call it mental or whatever they were, but it was uncharacteristic for us."
That being said, the Panthers showed some fight in the final frame. After recording just six scoring chances over the first two periods, they recorded nine in the third. They also fired off 27 shots attempts, which were seven more than they had all game entering the final 20 minutes.
Moving forward, that final period should be something the team can build on.
"It's a sour taste in everyone's mouth, which is a good sign right now," Boyle said. "No one's happy about that. We know where we're at. We know what we've been doing and what we're capable of doing, and that wasn't it."

2. BOBROVSKY MAKES BIG SAVES

The numbers really don't reflect Bobrovsky's performance this afternoon.
In fact, if not for his play in net, the score likely would've been worse than it was. Under duress throughout most of the contest, the 31-year-old made several highlight-reel stops, especially in the first period when he denied 15 of 16 shots to keep the Panthers within striking distance.
"We got beat pretty good, and it could have been a lot worse," Boyle said of Bobrovsky, who owns an 8-4-0 record in his last 12 starts. "He hung in there and he competed. He really, really competed hard. He kept us in there as long as he could, but unfortunately we didn't get going."
Of Bobrovsky's 31 saves in Montreal, 11 came from high-danger areas.
"He did what he had to do, but we weren't very good in front of him," Quenneville said.

3. SPECIAL TEAMS BATTLE

The Panthers simply couldn't sneak one past Price on the power play today.
While the Canadiens finished 1-for-2 on the man advantage, Florida, which entered today's slate of games with the fifth-ranked power play in the league at 24.5 percent, went 0-for-6.
That lack of execution, however, wasn't due to a lack of shots.
Of the 29 saves Price made today, 14 came when the Panthers were on the power play.
"We had some good power-play time," Quenneville said. "It was a little different unit there. There were still some decent looks, but we didn't get the finish. Usually we cash in on one or two to get a little bit of excitement there, but we didn't get it today."
Given how good they've been with the extra attacker, today's game is certainly an anomaly.

4. BARKOV UPDATE

The news on Aleksander Barkov appears to be good.
After absorbing a hit along the boards from Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber near the midway point of the second period, the Panthers captain left the game and did not return.
"We'll find out more tomorrow," said Quenneville, who added that the injury is considered to be lower-body. "We're thinking that it's not serious, but we'll get a better gauge on the timing of it."
Just one point shy of becoming the third player in franchise history to reach 400 points, Barkov has been contributing heavily at both ends of the ice for the Panthers this season. In addition to ranking second on the team with 54 points, he also ranks first in faceoff win percentage (53.5).
Additionally, the 24-year-old center also leads the club's forwards in average ice time (19:47).

5. DOUBLE TROUBLE

The games only get bigger from here on out.
Following this afternoon's loss, the Panthers will now head to Toronto to face off against the Maple Leafs in a huge divisional matchup. As of right now, the two teams are currently tied for third in the Atlantic with 61 points, with Florida having an edge for playing in one fewer game.
"We've got 32 [games] to go," Quenneville said. "You know how important it's going to be for both teams. That's where we're at. If you want to be a playoff team, you've got to do everything you can to find a way to win two points. That's going to be our concentration."
After visiting Toronto, the Panthers will close out their back-to-back on Tuesday in Columbus.

BONUS: TALLON'S MILESTONE

Dale Tallon reached his 1,000th NHL game as a General Manager this afternoon.
He is just the 34th General Manager in NHL history to reach that mark.

Congrats!