5 Takeaways: Barkov Scores Twice, But Panthers Fall to Stars

DALLAS -The Florida Panthers simply couldn't generate enough scoring chances.
Limited to a season-low 22 shots on goal, the playoff-hopeful Panthers are heading home with a few less points in their back pocket than they had initially hoped for after wrapping up their four-game road trip with a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center.

"It's a pretty stingy team over there defensively," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "They don't allow a lot. They're number one in the league for [fewest] chances against from the slot. We talked about that before the game, about getting inside more and having more of a shooting mentality and slinging more pucks. Obviously, we only had 22 shots."
The Panthers (32-29-12) couldn't have asked for a much better start in Dallas, as Aleksander Barkov scored just 2:11 into the game to put his team up 1-0 and end goaltender Ben Bishop's shutout streak at 233:04 -- the longest such streak in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history.
Later in the first period, Jamie Benn capitalized on a rebound to tie the game 1-1 at 17:49.
In the second, John Klingberg gave the Stars a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 10:38, but Barkov answered not long after with a power-play goal of his own that made it 2-2 at 16:57.
With his two-goal performance, Barkov has now scored 13 goals in his last 17 games.
"It doesn't matter who's scoring," said Barkov, who leads the team with a career-high 85 points this season. "We need to eliminate those bad mistakes and play better defensively against that type of team. We want to win games 2-0 or 2-1, it doesn't matter who's scoring goals."
It was one of those mistakes that ended up being Florida's undoing in Dallas, as a turnover led to Alexander Radulov's go-ahead goal that put the Stars up 3-2 at 10:32 of the third period. With 40 seconds left in regulation, Radulov made it 4-2 when he was credited with an empty netter.
Radulov, Benn and Seguin combined for three goals and seven assists against the Panthers.
"They're a good line," Panthers winger Jonathan Huberdeau said. "They've been building for a long time. We know what they can do. You can't defend every night against them, but you've just got to do the best job you can. We just didn't do it tonight."
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday's loss in Dallas…

1. STREAK SNAPPER

Bishop entered tonight's game with the longest shutout streak in the NHL since 2015.
Yeah, Barkov wasn't having any of that.
Less than three minutes after the puck had dropped, Barkov took Bishop's streak and threw it straight out the window, re-directing a sharp-angle shot from Huberdeau just past the formerly flawless goaltender to give the Panthers an early 1-0 lead at 2:11 of the first period.

With the primary helper on Barkov's opening tally, Huberdeau has pushed his franchise-record assist to 56 - three more than Viktor Kozlov's previous record of 53. Sitting behind only Barkov in the team's scoring race, the 25-year-old has recorded a career-high 79 points this season.
If Huberdeau can pick up one more point over the team's final nine games of the season, the Panthers will possess their first pair of 80-point players in a single season in franchise history.

2. BACK TO BARKOV

When you need a big goal, you look to the captain.
With the Panthers trailing 2-1 late in the second period, Barkov took a pass from Keith Yandle and wired a wrist shot towards the net that found its way past a heavily-screened Bishop (good work, Huberdeau) on the power play to make it a 2-2 game with 3:03 left in the middle frame.

The hottest scorer in the NHL for more than a month, Barkov has now posted a league-leading 13 goals and 32 points since Feb. 17. Amazingly, he's registered at least one point 16 times in that 17-game span, including an active seven-game point streak that he's carrying back home.
Florida's scoring leader with 85 points this season, the 23-year-old center has already set new career highs in goals (32) and assists (53). Also tied for the second-most assists in a season franchise history, he is just nine points away from matching Pavel Bure's points record of 94.

3. YANDLE ON TOP

Yandle has reached the top of the mountain.
By assisting on Barkov's second-period goal, the 32-year-old was credited with his 57th point of the season, surpassing his total from last season and moving him into a tie with Robert Svehla for the most points by a Panthers defenseman in franchise history.
Boasting a career-high 37 points on the man advantage - which ranks second in the NHL this season - Yandle is now also tied with forward Olli Jokinen for the most power-play points in a season in franchise history.
Leading Florida's defensive corps in both points (57) and assists (48), Yandle needs just three more points to set a new career high and become just the 14th U.S.-born blueliner to reach the 60-point plateau in a season.

4. SAM'S THE MAN

Sam Montembeault didn't get the win, but he probably deserved one.
Making his sixth straight start, the 22-year-old rookie looked impressive once again in net for the Panthers, stopping a career-high 33 shots, including nine saves on 10 high-danger attempts.

"Monty made some good saves," Huberdeau said.
Montembeault now sits at 5-2-1 on the season with a .903 save percentage.

5. KEEPER LEAGUE

Brady Keeper got his first taste of the NHL on Tuesday night.
After signing a two-year, entry-level contract with the Panthers on Monday, the 22-year-old defenseman joined the team during warmups in Dallas. As it is with most rookies, he was treated to a solo lap around the rink before his new teammates joined him on the ice.
"There's no words to explain how I feel right now," Keeper said after morning skate. "I'm just happy I'm here. I'm really excited. Everybody came up to me and kind of said 'hi' and all that stuff. That feels pretty good for myself, knowing that everybody's excited for me to be here."
Hailing from Cross Lake, Manitoba (a town of approximately 8,000), Keeper, a member of the Pimicikamak Cree Nation, spent the past two seasons manning the blue line at the University of Maine. In 77 career games with the Back Bears, he registered 44 points (13 goals, 31 assists).
A sought-after free agent, Keeper, who said he had received interest from multiple NHL teams, led Maine's defensemen in goals (7), assists (15) and points (22) during the 2018-19 campaign.
"A guy that's had a good college career," Boughner said of Keeper's potential. "He's got some offense to his game. He's got some grit to his game. I had a good talk with him this morning. The plan is for him in the next week or two is just get acclimated, learn some of our systems."