5 Takeaways: Panthers Winning Streak Snapped in Loss to Columbus

COLUMBUS -Well, they weren't going to win them all.
The Florida Panthers saw their season-long winning streak end at five games with a 7-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena. After jumping out to a 2-0 lead, Florida was outscored 7-1 over the final two periods to suffer their first loss since Nov. 1.

"I think they're probably disappointed in themselves, and so am I," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "You come out and you play a good first period, a continuation of the game before that we had in Philadelphia. Then in the second period, I felt, no disrespect to Columbus because they played well and didn't stop coming all night, I thought we shot ourselves in the foot."
After starting the season a perfect 4-0-0, Roberto Luongo stopped 30 of 36 shots to pick up his first loss of the season - the first time all year the 39-year-old allowed more than two goals in a single game. Of the 27 scoring chances he faced, 15 of them came from high-danger areas.
"It's not fun to lose," Luongo said. "Obviously disappointed, especially because we had a 2-0 lead early on. There were a couple bounces early in the second and I felt like we really couldn't recover after that."
When asked about a potential turning point in the loss, Luongo pointed to Cam Atkinson's shorthanded goal that came just 28 seconds into the second period to make it 2-1. Following that score, Brandon Dubinsky and Pierre-Luc Dubois would make it 3-2 over the next 5:48.
"They picked up from there and never looked back," Luongo said. Having won five of six to get to 7-6-3, the Panthers likely won't dwell on this loss too much.
"We just didn't have it tonight," Boughner said. "Give Columbus credit, we just didn't get it done. Like I said, I think that we're disappointed. We had an opportunity that slipped away a little bit."
Here are five takeaways from Thursday's loss in Columbus…

1. NICK WITH THE TIP

Nick Bjugstad continues to flourish on Florida's third line.
Less than two minutes into Thursday night's game, the burly winger opened the scoring for the Panthers, establishing himself in the slot before re-directing a long shot from defenseman Mike Matheson past goaltender Joonas Korpisalo to make it a 1-0 game at 1:44 of the first period.
Florida has now scored first in 10 of 16 games this season.

At 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, Bjugstad continues to be a force on the ice for the Panthers. In 16 games, he has been on the ice for 16 goals scored and just 5 against, giving him a team-leading 76.19 GF%. He has also posted five points (two goals, three assists) in his last seven games.

2. EK-BACK TO BACK

After waiting 15 games for his first goal, Aaron Ekblad wasted no time in getting his second.
The 22-year-old defenseman scored for the second time in as many games on Thursday night, beating Korpisalo on the power play to put the Panthers up 2-0 at 6:45 of the first period. Like his goal on Tuesday night in Philadelphia, this one also came on Florida's red-hot power play.
Fresh off a 16-goal campaign last season, Ekblad now has goals in back-to-back games.
"They way he got that goal tonight, that was sort of vintage last year," Boughner said. "He had four or five… I think five or six of those crashing the back door on the power play. He's got some confidence. I thought he played well 5-on-5."

As one half of Florida's top-defensive pairing, Ekblad was having a big impact even when he wasn't scoring. A major contributor in all situations, he entered the night ranking second on the team in average ice time (22:47), including 2:16 on the power play and 2:07 on the penalty kill.
In terms of possession, Ekblad also leads all Panthers defenseman with a 54.05 CF% at 5-on-5.

3. BEATING BURE

Mike Hoffman has surpassed a Hall of Famer.
With the primary assist on Ekblad's first-period score - an incredibly smooth cross-ice pass, by the way - the 28-year-old winger registered a point in his 14th-straight game, moving past Bure's longstanding franchise record of 13 set back during the 1999-00 campaign.
"Coming off the flank, you're looking to shoot, or maybe a shot tip, or a guy in the backdoor, seeing whatever option they give you," Hoffman said of the scoring play. "Ekblad was open on the back side, so I tried to go through, and luckily it got through."
Acquired in an offseason trade with San Jose -- which picked up him up from Ottawa just hours earlier -- Hoffman has been fantastic since arriving in Florida. The team's leader in shots (55), he has also produced at a point-per-game clip, posting seven goals and 16 points in 16 games.
"It'd be a little better if we could celebrate tonight," Hoffman said of passing Bure. "But we'll have to wait for another point for that."
While Hoffman's streak continues, Evgenii Dadonov's came to an end at 12.

4. YANDLE'S GOT POWER

Keith Yandle and power-play points - can you name a more iconic duo?
With Aleksander Barkov screening Korpisalo at the top of the crease, Yandle needled a long wrist shot through the goaltender's five-hole on the power play to tie the game at 3 at 13:12 of the second period. The goal was Yandle's fourth of the season and third on the power play.
Yandle led the Panthers with 4:08 of power play ice time against the Jackets on Thursday night.

The NHL's active ironman with 731 straight games, Yandle not only rarely misses a game, but also seems to find his way onto the scoresheet every time he plays. With 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 16 games, the 32-year-old is tied for fifth in scoring among NHL defensemen.

5. POWER PLAY ON FIRE

Without question, Florida's power play has established itself as one of the best in the league.
With a 2-for-4 performance in Columbus, the Panthers power play improved to 9-for-24 (37.5 percent) over the last six games, scoring at least once with the extra attacker in each. In that span, six different players have scored a power play goal, while 10 have registered a point.
Of those goals, six have come from the top unit and three have come from the second.
In addition to ranking first in the league in road power play goals with 12, Florida has also climbed back from a slow start to become the league's 11th-ranked unit, converting on 23.2 percent of opportunities, which currently stands as the best conversion rate in franchise history.
All advanced statistics courtesy of NaturalStatTrick.com