5 TAKEAWAYS: Colton's late goal lifts Lightning to win in Game 2

SUNRISE, Fla. -This one stings a bit more than others.
Falling behind 0-2 in their second-round series, the Panthers surrendered a goal with just 3.8 seconds left on the clock to fall to the Lightning 2-1 in Game 2 at FLA Live Arena on Thursday.

"For 59:40, we had very little mistakes and were kind of hanging in the game and managing it extremely well," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said. "I thought we had more energy, more urgency. We played our game the whole night. It's that 20 seconds that stings."
Looking to bounce back, the Panthers will head to Tampa for Game 3 on Sunday.
"There's got to be a good feeling the way we played," Brunette said, citing the team's strong play at 5-on-5. "Again, there's disappointment, but that's the ups and downs of a playoff series and you've got to let it go and focus for the next game. Win a game, and keep going from there."
On fire with the extra attacker, the Lightning, who went 3-for-6 on the man advantage in Game 1, opened the scoring when Corey Perry set up shop in the slot and tipped a pass from Steven Stamkos into the back of the cage on the power play to make it 1-0 at 12:06 of the first period.
Evening things up in the second period with his first-career NHL playoff goal, Eetu Luostarinen took a pass from Gustav Forsling and blasted a shot on net that trickled past Andrei Vasilevskiy and right across the goal line to finally get the Panthers on the board and make it 1-1 at 18:07.
Standing on his head all night long, Sergei Bobrovsky kept the Panthers alive late when he slid over in the crease and gloved Ondrej Palat's powerful one-timer with 4:03 left in the third period.
With time winding down and overtime seeming like a forgone conclusion, the Lightning capitalized on a miscue by the Panthers in the defensive zone when Kucherov drew a pair of defenders behind the net before setting up Ross Colton for the winning tally at 19:56.
A heartbreaking end, but the series is far from over.
For the "Comeback Cats," a 0-2 series deficit is seen as another challenge to overcome. "Everybody understands that next game is big," Bobrovsky said. "We can make a difference in the future, not in the past. That's it. We just have to stay together again and keep working."
Here are five takeaways from Thursday's loss…

1. LUOSTY LIGHTS THE LAMP

For all of his hard work in the dirty areas, this goal was well deserved.
Finding the back of the net for the first time in his NHL playoff career, Luostarinen ripped a shot on net that squeezes through Vasilevskiy and into the twine to make it 1-1 in the second period.

"I like hard games," Luostarinen said. "Just got to keep playing like I've been playing."
Averaging just over 13 minutes of ice time per game in the playoffs, Luostarinen has become a key player for the Panthers both at 5-on-5 and on special teams. That said, possibly his greatest contribution at the moment is coming in the faceoff circle, where he's winning 55% of his draws.

2. BOB THE BOSS

Bobrovsky put the Panthers in position to win once again.
Stopping 27 of 29 shots, he turned aside seven of the eight high-danger shots he saw tonight. Of course, none were more impressive than his robbery on Palat.

"It is what it is right now," Bobrovsky said of the road ahead. "We just have to reset, refocus, regroup and get ready for the next game. We have to stay together, stay composed."
While the Panthers have struggled on the penalty kill against the Lightning's potent power play, Bobrovsky has been lights out at even strength in the series. Fueling his .933 save percentage at even strength, he's tracking pucks well, limiting rebounds and making game-saving denials.
If you're looking for reasons to believe heading into Game 3, look no further than Bobrovsky.
"He's been great all playoffs," Brunette said. "We feel good with that."

3. VASY STANDS TALL

Matching Bobrovsky's performance through two games has been Vasilevskiy.
Returning to form after and up-and-down performance against the Maple Leafs in Round 1, the Lightning goalie has stopped 69 of 72 shots he's faced in the series, including 35 saves tonight.
"I thought both goalies played great," Brunette said.
Helping stifle Florida's power play, which is still seeking its first goal of the postseason after going 0-for-4 tonight, Vasilevskiy turned aside all eight shots she saw on the PK in Game 2.
Getting help from his defense, Vasilevskiy has faced down just 14 high-danger shot attempts from the Panthers through the first two games of the series, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
"They're squeezing it," Brunette said of the power play. "It's really unbelievable, but I liked the urgency. We had some looks. I thought it was better. A great opportunity to capitalize there."

4. SPECIAL TEAMS

The Panthers and Lightning have scored the game number of goals (2) at 5-on-5 in this series.
Yet, it's Tampa Bay that has come out on top in both games.
The key? Special teams. As previously mentioned, the Panthers are still without a power play goal, while the Lightning have converted on four of their nine opportunities so far in the series. Overall, the Lightning lead the NHL in the postseason with 10 goals on the man advantage. At 5-on-5 in the series, Florida leads 45-37 in scoring chances.
"I loved our game," Brunette said. "I thought we were in a great position with 20 seconds left. We controlled the puck, but we just didn't manage it. We made a fatal mistake."

5. TAMPA BOUND

Trailing 0-2 in the series, the Cats are going to need to take care of business on the road.
A rare playoff back-to-back, Games 3 and 4 will be on Saturday and Monday, respectively.
"It's a good challenge for us," Bobrovsky said. "The whole year we've been fighting. We found a way to come back from the games and from some adversities. This is another test for us. We're going to reset, regroup and get ready for the next game."
After winning a franchise-record 24 games away from home during the regular season, the Panthers have carried that strong road game into the postseason. In Round 1, they came out on top in two of the three games they played at Washington, including the series-clinching Game 6.
In the regular season, the Cats went 1-0-1 in games at Amalie Arena.