RECAP: Kraken 2, Panthers 1

SUNRISE, Fla. – Returning to the ice after a nearly two-week break, the Florida Panthers came up just short in a 2-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Still leading the Atlantic Division at 34-21-3, the Panthers certainly played well enough to win, leading the Kraken 29-21 in scoring chances and 62-45 in shot attempts in defeat.

Overall, getting back to work was the most important thing.

“A bit of a mixed bag,” head coach Paul Maurice said of the game. “I don’t think we gave up a whole heck of a lot. They get one on the power play, and we don’t. Some missed opportunities, but I don’t really ever like to talk about that. We’ll be above the bar on chances for and against.”

After a few missed clears by the Panthers, the Kraken opened the scoring when Kappo Kakko drove to the net and beat Sergei Bobrovsky on the power play to make it 1-0 at 6:32.

Keeping the Panthers off the board early, Joey Daccord was lights out during the first period for the Kraken, with six of his 10 saves considered high danger, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

Finally breaking through in the second period, the Panthers turned to their Finns.

Fresh off teaming up for Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off, Eetu Luostarinen took a centering feed from Anton Lundell off the rush and directed the puck straight over Daccord’s right shoulder and into the top of the cage from in tight to make it 1-1 at 11:37.

Nikko Mikkola, another 4 Nations Finn, got the secondary assist on the goal.

“A great play by Lundy,” Luostarinen said.

Appearing to take the lead, the Panthers had a go-ahead goal from Mackie Samoskevich taken off the board after the Kraken made a successful challenge for goaltender interference.

On the play, Evan Rodrigues was pushed into Seattle’s crease.

Per the NHL’s official review, “Rodrigues’ presence in the crease and his contact on Daccord’s stick impaired his ability to play his position prior to Samoskevich’s goal.”

Arguably, this was a call the officials got wrong.

“We were going pretty good there, but rules are rules,” Maurice said.

Giving Seattle the lead after a big save from Daccord, Jared McCann one-timed a pass from Adam Larsson past Bobrovsky from the left circle to make it 2-1 at 7:03 of the third period.

After pulling Bobrovsky for the extra attacker, the Panthers mustered a flurry of action around Seattle’s net in the waning minutes of regulation, but couldn’t find the tying goal.

In the end, the Panthers finished with just one goal on 3.16 expected.

“I think it was a really tight game,” Luostarinen said. “We had our chances.”

THEY SAID IT

“It was just OK. There’s not a trend there that I’m worried about.” – Paul Maurice

“We can just improve from this.” – Eetu Luostarinen

“I felt like we played pretty good. It was a tough game.” – Anton Lundell

CATS STATS

- The Panthers surrendered just four scoring chances in the third period.

- Jesper Boqvist and A.J. Greer each recorded four hits.

- Dmitry Kulikov blocked a team-high two shots on goal.

- Aleksander Barkov went 12-for-20 (60%) in the faceoff circle.

- Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18 of 19 shots at 5-on-5.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Panthers are heading to the Music City.

One of their few road games over the next two weeks, the Panthers will head to Nashville for a showdown with the Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.

To find a place to watch the game in South Florida, click HERE.