Panthers look for answers to Lightning power play, aim to rebound after tough Game 1 defeat (but without suspended player)

SUNRISE, Fla. — The process for the Florida Panthers of moving on from the 5-4 Game 1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first-round Stanley Cup playoff series began immediately once players left the BB&T Center ice on Sunday night.

“We did it already,” said Panthers star center and captain Aleksander Barkov in his post-game web conference following the rollercoaster ride that was one of four playoff games in NHL history with four lead changes. “I know it sucks, but whatever, it happened. Now, we’re going to concentrate on next game.”

The Panthers came away knowing, at even strength, they were the better team in Game 1 against the defending champions, but it’s the Lightning’s power play that is haunting them. Tampa Bay had a man advantage on three of its five goals on Sunday.

“There’s a lot of good things to take out of it,” said Panthers coach Joel Quenneville, who has led three Stanley Cup title runs with the Chicago Blackhawks and was an assistant on the 1996 Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.

“I think the games that we got beat by them this year, there’s a lot of frustration knowing that you think you deserve better, but that’s the difference between teams that know how to win. And we’re looking to get educated.”

The lesson learned after Sunday night was that, especially with star forwards Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos back in the lineup for the Lightning, the Panthers can’t commit penalties to allow them to get on the power play. The Lightning scored on 3 of 4 power-play chances.

Kucherov, who saved himself up to debut in the postseason after missing the entire regular season following hip surgery, scored two goals and dished out an assist to Brayden Point, who later scored the game-winning goal. Stamkos, missing the final month-plus with a lower-body injury, had assists on the two Kucherov goals.

In what’s proving to be a physical series — the Panthers laid 54 hits on the Lightning in Game 1 but also ran into 18 penalty minutes — Florida also must find answers on the penalty kill when it does surrender a power-play chance.

“We got to work, find a way to get better at some spots in our game,” said Barkov, who had a goal and an assist Sunday. “Then, we know 5 on 5 we played well and keep getting better at that. So, we’re fine.”

The Panthers did show resolve early when they were stripped of the opening goal, put in the net by Sam Bennett but waved off for goaltender interference. While the Lightning scored a shorthanded goal seconds later, Florida responded with two goals before the end of the first period.

On Monday, the Panthers learned they will be without Bennett for Game 2 as he was suspended a game for boarding Tampa Bay’s Blake Coleman.

“Throughout the playoffs, you go through adversity game in and game out,” said rookie Owen Tippett, who scored the go-ahead goal in the third period before Point’s pair to win it. “Every shift is important, and it’s going to happen. That’s playoffs. It’s going to happen all game long. Just got to stick with it and take it one shift at a time.”

With the BB&T Center capacity extended to roughly 50 percent for the first-round series, creating a raucous environment on Sunday, the Panthers will look to feed off that energy again in Game 2 before the series shifts up I-75.

“It was unbelievable,” Barkov said. “I had like goosebumps before the game during the anthem. It was so nice. You want this to happen every game and we’re going to do our best on the ice. A lot of support from our fans. We love that, we appreciate that, and we want to keep going.”

Bennett’s suspension for Game 2 was announced by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Monday afternoon. The third-period power play to come from his penalty led to Point’s game-tying goal with 7 minutes remaining before Point won it with his breakaway goal with 1:14 to play.