ANALYSIS: Blackhawks Can't Stop High-Powered Panthers in Home Loss

The Blackhawks knew Sunday afternoon's matchup against the league's best offense would be a challenge.
They rose to the occasion by and large in the opening 20 minutes, taking a 1-1 game into the first intermission while holding Florida, who leads the league in shots and is tied for third in shooting percentage, to just three shots on goal. But the home team couldn't sustain the Panthers pressure for the full 60 in a 5-2 loss at the United Center, including a pair of late empty-net goals as Chicago pushed for the equalizer in a 3-2 game.

POSTGAME LINKS
GAMECENTER: CHI vs. FLA
RECAP: Blackhawks Fall to Panthers, 5-2
HIGHLIGHTS: Blackhawks vs. Panthers
GALLERY: Blackhawks vs. Panthers
"I think we fared pretty good with the challenge," interim head coach Derek King said after the game. "We hung in there with them, and in the third period they came, they were like, 'OK, enough with this.' They started playing, but still we were in it. We creeped back in. At least we kept it to the point where we could get our goalie out."
"We were competitive for most of the game tonight, they just scored on a couple chances. I didn't think we played that bad, we just couldn't really -- it was tough for us to sustain O-zone time," defenseman Calvin de Haan said. "You've got to give them credit, they're a good team. There's things we can learn from in these losses, for sure."

The loss dropped Chicago to 0-6-1 over their last seven home games, a point that is not lost on the players and staff looking to reward the home faithful.
"The losing sucks, no matter where it is, but especially at home," Connor Murphy said. "We're still having good crowds and people come support us, and we really appreciate them sticking with us on this homestand and coming out and trying to get us over the hump. We really will just keep working towards that and have to keep taking the positives and working on some of the mistakes that we're making."
"Yeah, it is," said King of the frustration. "Especially home games in this building because your fans can help a lot. I thought the fans were great tonight and they've been great all year. We're trying to win games, we're competing and it doesn't always go our way... We'll figure this out and we'll get through it.

NEUTRAL ZONE PRESSURE

Florida was able to tilt the ice on the afternoon through the neutral zone, breaking out of their own end with speed and authority, catching Chicago in odd-man situations backing into the D zone. The forecheck and sustained offensive zone time was the key to the Panthers first and third tallies on the afternoon, winning pucks back deep and maintaining possession, while the second goal developed off a rush with the Blackhawks ceding the blue line before a shot from distance.
"They do a good job at really pushing that off-side winger when they're coming out of their D-zone and really pushing us back," de Haan explained. "It makes the D back off and everyone gets out of position that way."
"They stretch their forwards a lot and then their D come as that next layer and jump up, try to get above our forwards to be that next layer of the rush," Murphy added. "It's about having good back pressure and making sure us D have the best gaps we can when they enter the zone and everyone is sorting the middle of the ice to keep their passes to the outside of the dangerous areas."

HISTORIC HELPER FROM KANE

With a secondary assist on Caleb Jones' third-period goal to pull within one late, Patrick Kane overtook Denis Savard for sole possession of second all-time in franchise assists, setting the new penultimate total at 720 -- trailing only Stan Mikita's 926 total. Passing his first NHL head coach and close friend in Savard adds a little extra meaning to the milestone as well.

"I've played a lot of games and a lot of years here, but special player, special human being," Kane said after tying Savoir-Faire for second on Thursday night. "It's pretty cool when you reach these milestones and realize the names you're in company with. It's pretty special."
The assist leaderboard is the first major category that Kane has taken sole possession of second place in, sitting third in goals (417) and points (1,137) and fourth in games played (1,077). He could moved into second in points and third in games played by the end of the season at his current pace.