The Florida Panthers fired off a game-high 43 shots on goal but simply couldn't overcome a big night from goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy in a tight 2-1 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Saturday night's regular-season opener at Amalie Arena.

"We did a lot of the good things that we talked about in the last few weeks," head coach Bob Boughner said. "I thought we executed. We came out ready to play. This is not an easy building, especially in a home opener. I thought we controlled the first period. We were a desperate team. We just couldn't get one by Vasilevskiy early on… You've got to give him credit, he's a tough guy to get a puck behind."
A Vezina Trophy finalist last season, Vasilevskiy made 42 saves -- including 12 on the power play - to keep Tampa in the game long enough to get to a shootout. In the skills competition, the 24-year-old stopped both Aleksander Barkov and Mike Hoffman's attempts, while Nikita Kucherov and J.T. Miller both scored to lead the Lightning to their first victory of the season.
After the game, Vincent Trocheck said that it was Florida's failure to execute on offense that opened the door for Vasilevskiy's dominance.
"Obviously he's a good goaltender, but we had [43] shots," center Vincent Trocheck said. "We had probably 15-20 Grade-A chances… It's a matter of us not putting the puck in the net."
The Panthers held the lead for the majority of the night after a goal from defenseman Jacob MacDonald made it a 1-0 game at 5:58 of the first period. That lead stood until late in the third period, when Anthony Cirelli tied the game at 1 to force overtime and an eventual shootout.
In defeat, Florida also lost goaltender Roberto Luongo and center Derek MacKenzie to injuries.
"I wouldn't say we were happy with anything, when we came away with a loss," said Trocheck, who picked up his first point of the season with an assist on MacDonald's goal. "We expected to win this game. We did a have a lot of chances, but that's on us to put them in the net."
Here are five takeaways from Saturday's shootout loss in Tampa…

1. A HOT START

The Panthers came out in the first period on fire, looking every bit like the team that went into the summer with a chip on their shoulder after falling short of the playoffs by just one point. A look of determination was on the face of every player, and their strong play reflected that.
After the first 20 minutes, the Panthers held an advantage of 16-4 in shots and 22-11 in shot attempts over the Lightning. Incredibly, Tampa's top line of Steven Stamkos, Kucherov and Miller - a trio that combined for 244 points last season - was held without a single shot.
Florida, which ranked ninth in the league last season in first-period scoring, carried a 1-0 lead into the second frame.
"Real happy with that first period," Boughner said. "We did a lot of things that we talked about and a lot of things that we've been working on. We executed well. We had a lot of momentum and we were real urgent."
Unfortunately, that momentum started to turn early in the second period. As you can see in the chart below (courtesy of NaturalStatTrick.com) the Lightning quickly started to climb back into the game in terms of puck possession, eventually finishing with a 40-39 advantage at 5-on-5.

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2. JAKE IS GREAT

Here's a recap of MacDonald's night: First NHL game. First NHL shot. First NHL goal.
It took less than six minutes for MacDonald to announce his arrival to the league on Saturday night, as the 25-year-old defenseman collected a sweet pass from Trocheck before beating Vasilevskiy from the left circle to put the Panthers up 1-0 at 5:58 of the first period.
"As a kid growing up, it's obviously your dream to play [in the NHL]," said MacDonald, whose score now stands as the fastest ever by a rookie defenseman in their debut in franchise history. "It was awesome. It was really exciting… I think this is the first game my little brother has seen me play in 10 years. He's a busy guy, so I was lucky to have him down here."

Before he ever suited up in a Panthers uniform, MacDonald spent 110 games in both the ECHL and AHL, never giving up on his dream. After going undrafted out of Cornell University in 2015, he put his head down and honed his skills, slowly getting closer and closer to the big show.
After leading the AHL in goals (20) and points (55) by a defenseman last season, MacDonald, who was named to the 2017-18 AHL First All-Star Team, went on to sign a two-year deal with Florida over the summer, where he lit up the competition in training camp to earn a roster spot.
"It was so great to see and be a part of," Boughner said. "We talk about how long of a road he's had to get here. To get rewarded like that was nice to see. I believe he was third star, I think, too. What a night for him and his family."

3. LUONGO LEAVES WITH INJURY

This wasn't the start Luongo was hoping for.
Limited by injuries to just 33 starts last season, the 39-year-old goaltender hit a roadblock in his first start of his 19th NHL season, exiting Saturday night's game with 7:39 left to go in the second period after teammate Frank Vatrano got tangled up in front of the net and fell onto his right leg.
Luongo did not return to the game, with the injury being deemed a lower-body ailment. Prior to being pulled from action, he appeared to be in mid-season form, stopping all 12 shots he faced.

"I knew he couldn't come back," Boughner said. "They're going to re-assess him now and we'll know more tomorrow."
Expected to be an integral part of the Panthers' push towards the playoffs in 2018-19, Luongo proved last season that he can still play at a very high level when healthy, posting an 18-11-2 record with three shutouts, a 2.47 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.
"You never want to see your starting goalie go down, especially one like Lu," Trocheck said. "It was tough to lose him there in the second, but we do have a great backup in Reims [James Reimer]. He stepped in and played really well, we thought."
If Luongo is unable to suit up in Thursday's home opener against Columbus at BB&T Center, third-string goaltender Michael Hutchinson, 28, will likely be recalled from AHL Springfield. In 102 career NHL games, Hutchinson, who joined the Cats on a one-year deal this offseason, owns a 2.65 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage.
"We signed him for a reason," Trocheck said of Hutchinson. "He's a really good goaltender that can definitely step up for us."

4. REIMER SOLID IN RELIEF

A backup goaltender must always be ready, and Reimer certainly was.
After not seeing any in-game action since a preseason matchup against the Lightning on Sept. 25, Reimer was spectacular in relief of Luongo, stopping 15 of 16 shots - including a point-blank chance from Alex Killorn in the final minute of regulation - to get the game to overtime and make sure the Panthers left Tampa with at least one point in their back pocket.
"It's tough," Reimer said. "Obviously, Lu, he's a battler and he's a workhorse. It just really sucks when you see that happen… I just tried to get prepared right off the bat and get ready for the first shot."
The good news for the Panthers is that Reimer has already showed that he can carry a starter's load if necessary. After Luongo went down with a lower-body injury last season, he started 18 of 19 games, including the first 17 in a row. Overall, he went 9-6-2 during that long stretch, posting a 2.59 goals-against average, a .924 save percentage and two shutouts.
"Reims came in and made some real good stops, especially in overtime," Boughner said. "He gave us a chance to get to that shootout… Reims has been put in this position before and he answered the bell."

5. THE POWER PLAY EXPERIMENT

After finding success with it during the preseason finale, the Panthers once again deployed a power play unit featuring five forwards on Saturday night against the Lightning. And although the unit - which features a combination of Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Evgenii Dadonov, Mike Hoffman and Trocheck -- failed to make a dent in the scoresheet, it did manage to generate roughly 10 shot attempts and seven shots on goal.
"I thought we moved the puck around really well," Trocheck said. "We had a lot of chances on the power play. It was a matter of us not putting the puck in the net. Obviously, we've got to get back and focus on the defensive side of the puck too whenever we're out there."
As Trocheck alluded to, it was a lack of defensive focus on the power play that led to Tampa's game-tying goal. With a chance to put the game out of reach in the third period, a lapse on the power play sent the Bolts on a shorthanded 2-on-1 break, with Cirelli burying his own rebound to make it a 1-1 game at 10:45 of the final frame to eventually force overtime.
Still, despite a 0-for-5 performance on the man advantage, Boughner liked what he saw.
"It is what it is," he said. "Anytime you go five forwards you play with a little bit of fire. I loved that we generated a lot of chances."