VANCOUVER – All good streaks eventually come to an end.
Unable to stretch their point streak to eight games, the Florida Panthers suffered a 4-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Thursday.
Still sitting at 18-10-2, the loss is Florida’s first in regulation since Nov. 25.
“They’re a really good team,” forward Carter Verhaeghe said. “They came ready to play. They got some goals right at the start and then we were chasing it. They’re a really good team. They play physical.”
Taking advantage of a turnover in the neutral zone, the Canucks opened the scoring when Carson Soucy buried a wrist shot from the slot to make it 1-0 at 2:23 of the first period.
Adding to the early lead for the Canucks, Max Sasson fired a shot on net that caught a piece of Danton Heinen in front before trickling across the goal like to make it 2-0 at 18:41.
Keeping up with their quick-strike attacks in the second period, Brock Boeser followed up on his own rebound after his initial shot bounced off the end board and the back of the net and sent the puck past Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 3-0 at 4:53.
An uncharacteristic defensive performance, Vancouver’s first three goals all came off the rush.
“We gave up three rush goals and we just don’t do that, can’t do that,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “Those are all off our sticks. We own those. Other than that, there wasn’t much going on either way for either team. I thought they defended hard around their net.”
Making a push late in the second period, the Panthers were denied a chance to cut into their deficit when Kevin Lankinen stopped fellow Finn Aleksander Barkov on a backhand from in tight.
Staying hot in the third period, Lankinen continued to keep the Panthers from breaking through with back-to-back quality robberies on Niko Mikkola and Sam Bennett just past the 10-mintue mark.
Entering tonight’s tilt, Lankinen owned a .921 career save percentage against Florida.
But in addition to not getting bounces, the Panthers had 18 shots blocked.
“It starts with us D,” defenseman Gustav Forsling said of getting more pucks on net. “We’ve got to get up there and create a lane and find a way to get the puck to the net. We’ve got to get someone there right in front of his (the goalie’s) eyes so that he can’t see the puck.”
Not giving the Panthers any opening to make a comeback, the Canucks tacked on yet another goal when Jake DeBrusk tipped in a shot on the power play to make it 4-0 at 12:55.
In defeat, the Panthers led 60-31 in shot attempts and 21-17 in scoring chances.
“We get on the road and give up 18, 19 shots, that should be enough,” Maurice said. “The rush chances [against] have got to go.”
THEY SAID IT
“We didn’t get there (to the net) enough tonight.” – Carter Verhaeghe
“I think they did a good job defending. We didn’t get our shots through, and they did a good job boxing out and letting the goalie see the puck.” – Gustav Forsling
“It’s very difficult to defend off a turnover because you’re in an attack position. Then when you do turn the puck over, it’s very difficult to get to a defensive position.” – Paul Maurice
CATS STATS
- The Panthers led 2.24-1.61 in expected goals, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
- The Panthers had 19 giveaways.
- Mackie Samoskevich had a team-high four hits.
- Evan Rodrigues let loose a team-high five shots on goal.
- The Panthers now sit at 9-5-1 on the road.
WHAT’S NEXT?
You can always start a new streak.
Continuing their trek through Canada, the Panthers will return to the ice on Saturday for a matchup with the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome at 10 p.m. ET.
To find a place to watch the game in South Florida, visit FloridaPanthers.com/CatsOnTap.
