RECAP: Avalanche 7, Panthers 4

SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers got pulled into a style of game they didn’t want to play during a 7-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

“I think we just played to their game more than we played ours,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “We’re not going to beat those guys at their game. That’s just flat out that simple.”

Falling to 12-8-1, the Panthers remain focused on getting back on track.

After all, prior to their current 1-5-0 stretch, they’d won seven games in a row.

“We’ve got our theories here, but none of which is going to help the next night,” head coach Paul Maurice said of the team’s recent struggles. “We’ve got a structure we need to play.”

In the first game since he moved down the third line, Carter Verhaeghe was rewarded right away when he beat Alexandar Georgiev with a sharp-angle shot from the right circle to put the Panthers up 1-0 just 52 seconds into the first period.

Evening the score for the Avalanche, a shot from Cale Makar pinballed around some traffic in the crease before bouncing off Jonathan Drouin and into the cage to make it 1-1 at 9:13.

Putting the Panthers back on top, Aleksander Barkov outmuscled a defender just outside the crease before batting a floating puck out of the air into the twine to make it 2-1 at 15:44. In 13 games so far this season, the star captain has recorded at least one point 11 games.

At 17:31, Sergei Bobrovsky gloved a shot from Mikko Rantanen in a 1-on-1 battle.

Just 34 seconds into the second period, the Avalanche evened the score again when Drouin got behind the defense, took a pass from Makar and beat Bobrovsky to make it 2-2. Soon after, Logan O’Connor sniped a goal on a breakaway to put Colorado up 3-2 at 4:04.

At 8:54, Samuel Girard fired a shot off a defender and past Bobrovsky to make it 4-2.

Not letting up, Rantanen tacked on another goal for the Avalanche to make it 5-2 at 16:58.

“I think their forecheck was obviously pretty good,” defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “We couldn’t find a way to make tape-to-tape passes, so it felt like waves coming at us.”

Extending his point streak to 13 games and cutting into the deficit for the Panthers, Sam Reinhart tipped in a goal on the power play to make it 5-3 at 18:40. Leading the NHL with 16 goals, Reinhart has found the back of the net 11 times during his career-best point streak.

On a 5-on-3 power play in the third period, the Panthers appeared to pull within a goal when Matthew Tkachuk tipped in a shot from Ekblad. But before the light could seemingly even go off, officials quickly waived off the goal due to goaltender interference.

The Panthers challenged the decision, but it was upheld after a review.

Watching the replay, Georgiev appeared to initiate the contact in question.

“I wouldn’t feel differently about the game if we’d come back and won it,” Maurice said when asked about the decision. “I thought it was a good goal on the ice and still do.”

With what could’ve been a momentum-swinging goal unfortunately taken off the board, the Panthers continued to press on but couldn’t close the gap. At 15:49, Oliver Kylington scored to put Colorado up 6-3 and essentially put the game out of reach for the Panthers.

With 2:45 left in regulation, Valeri Nichushkin added an empty-netter to make it 7-3.

Not going down without a fight, Anton Lundell cut the deficit to 7-4 with a goal at 18:16.

“I think the game was played just about straight through,” Maurice said of the loss. “In a game like that, there’s not a single issue with your game. We’re struggling, without a doubt. But there wouldn’t be a ‘if we fixed one thing in tonight’s game, we’d be much better.’”

THEY SAID IT

“There shouldn’t be any waiting around anymore. You have to commit to doing it. It’s not an easy style. It’s hard to do for 82-plus (games), but that’s what makes us successful.” – Matthew Tkachuk on the Panthers getting back to their style of play

“The execution is the result of what we’re dealing with right now. It’s just an area of focus. We’ll get back to trying to get one thing going every time we touch the ice.” – Paul Maurice on getting the Panthers back to their game

CATS STATS

- The Panthers are tied for first in the NHL with three opening-minute goals.

- Matthew Tkachuk recorded his 36th multi-assist game with the Panthers.

- Sam Reinhart’s 13-game point streak is the longest by any NHL player this season.

- Aleksander Barkov went 14-for-19 (73.7%) in the faceoff circle.

- Sam Bennett dished out a team-high five hits.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Panthers will try to get back to their game when they host the Washington Capitals at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday at 7 p.m. ET.

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