5 Takeaways: 3rd-Period Lapse Costs Panthers in Loss to Avalanche

SUNRISE, Fla. - A brief lapse of less than a minute in the third period proved costly to the Florida Panthers in a 5-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night at BB&T Center.
In a battle between two of the league's top offenses, the Panthers and Avalanche traded goals during a back-and-forth first 40 minutes, with Colton Sceviour and Aaron Ekblad each lighting the lamp for Florida. The game was tight, with each team taking turns holding the momentum.

But entering the third period tied 2-2, the Panthers surrendered a pair of goals to J.T. Compher and Carl Soderberg just 43 seconds apart to fall behind 4-2 with 12:55 remaining in regulation.
"We talked about in the intermission being a good position in a 2-2 game going into the third period, and we didn't get the job done," Ekblad said. "It's been a recurring theme a few times this year. We're just not doing enough to win."
At 18:26, Gabriel Landeskog iced the game with an empty netter to make it 5-2.
"The only positive I want to look at is wins," said Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo, who made 32 saves. "We can't accept losses in this room and try to take the positives out of it. It's about winning hockey games, and we didn't get the job done."
The Panthers (11-11-5) currently sit at 3-2-2 on their season-long, eight-game homestand, which they will wrap up on Saturday with a crucial matchup against the New York Rangers.
"We just didn't get it done tonight," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "It was one of those games that could have went either way; we just didn't get it done. We've got to come back tomorrow and start thinking about the Rangers game on Saturday."
Here are five takeaways from Thursday night's loss in Sunrise…

1. SCEVIOUR MAKES IT ALL SQUARE

The Avalanche struck first, but Sceviour struck back.
With time ticking down in the first period, Sceviour jockeyed for position in the slot, creating enough space to tip a long shot from Bogdan Kiselevich past goaltender Philipp Grubauer to make it a 1-1 game with 2:07 remaining in the opening frame.
The goal bounced in and out of the net so quickly that it initially didn't set off the red light, but was upheld after a brief review from officials. The timely goal was his third of the season.

In a lineup shuffle that followed Vincent Trocheck's injury back in November, Sceviour has slid over from the wing to play center for the Panthers in recent games. In addition to his goal, he also finished with a game-high five hits in 10:03 of ice time against the Avalanche.

2. EKBLAD ANSWERS

Ekblad continues to produce on the power play.
The 22-year-old scored his sixth goal of the season on Thursday night, beating Grubauer with a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle after a beautiful feed from Jared McCann through the slot to make it a 2-2 game at 6:19 of the second period.
The goal came just 35 seconds after Colorado went up 2-1 on a shorthanded goal. "Extremely important," Ekblad said the team's quick response. "It was a great play by [Mike] Matheson and McCann to set me up and give me all kinds of time."

Ekblad's six goals lead all Panthers defenseman, while his four power-play goals are tied with Minnesota's Matt Dumba for first among NHL blueliners. Not just a goal scorer, the former first-overall pick also ranks fourth on the team in hits (38) and third in ice time per game (22:27).

3. NO BRAKES

This has become somewhat of a copy-and-paste takeaway.
With Ekblad's goal, the Panthers continued their dominance with the man advantage. They now have at least one power play goal in seven straight games and 17 of their last 18 overall, going 23-for-68 (34 percent) since Nov. 1 first - the second-best mark in the league during that span.
After going 1-for-5 against Colorado, however, Boughner believes the unit could have had more.
"I thought our shot selection wasn't very good in that last power play," he said. "I thought we tried to force things too much, but give them some credit. Our first unit power play has been unbelievable for a long time. Even at the start of the game when we didn't score, we had some great looks."
On the power play, defenseman Keith Yandle leads Florida and is tied for first in the NHL with 17 points, while Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov are tied for the team lead with six goals.

4. PENALTY KILL SHINES

It was a good night for the Panthers penalty kill, which cooled off the top power play in the NHL.
The Avalanche entered the game converting a league-best 32.2 percent of their chances with the man advantage, but went 0-for-4 on Thursday night. Setting the tone early, Florida allowed just one shot on goal and two shot attempts during Colorado's first power play of the game.
In the end, the Avalanche finished with just four shots on goal during 6:12 of power play time.
"Our PK was very successful tonight killing off the best power play in the league," Boughner said.
Through the first seven games of this homestand, Florida's penalty kill has gone a stellar 18-for-21 (86 percent).

5. THE CHALLENGE

A turning point in the game, the Avalanche took a 4-2 lead at 7:05 of the third period after a controversial goal in which Matt Nieto's stick made contact with Luongo in the crease after he absorbed a hit from defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, limiting his ability to make the save.
Florida challenged the scoring play, citing goaltender interference, but it was eventually upheld after a brief review. In an official statement from the NHL Situation Room, it was determined that Weegar's actions had put Nieto in that precarious position, thus negating any interference.
The decision was made in accordance with Note 2 of Rule 78.7 (ii) which states, in part, that the goal should be allowed because "the attacking Player was pushed, shoved or fouled by a defending Player causing the attacking Player to come into contact with the goalkeeper."
"The guy's stick came across his arm," Boughner said. "I thought it was a 50-percent chance, at best, to win it. You never know at that point in time. It was worth a chance, but I wasn't counting on it, for sure."