5 Takeaways: Despite Playoff Exit, Panthers Prideful in Resurgent Season

It might take some time for the sting to wear off, but the Panthers still have many reasons to hold their head high after their resurgent season came to an end with a 4-0 loss to the cross-state rival Lightning in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series on Wednesday at Amalie Arena.

"We wanted to win," Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau said. "You play hockey to win. With our crowd, I loved the atmosphere at home. We wanted to come back [to Sunrise] for Game 7, but it didn't happen. It's obviously going to take a little bit to swallow this one, but that's the most fun I've ever had this year. We had a good group, but it just didn't go our way in the first round."
With the previous five games in the series being incredibly tight, Game 6 was no different.
Jumping out to an early lead on home ice, the Lightning struck first when Tyler Johnson chased down a dump-in behind the net before sending a pass toward Pat Maroon, who got just enough of his stick on the puck to send it past Spencer Knight and make it 1-0 at 6:16 of the first period.
In the second period, the Lightning then doubled their lead by way of the power play. After Sam Bennett was whistled for a roughing penalty, Steven Stamkos took a pass from Nikita Kucherov and blasted home a one-timer from his favorite spot within the left circle to make it 2-0 at 13:27.
Despite the Panthers making a final push in the third period, Brayden Point essentially put the game away when he danced through the offensive zone before tucking a shot around Knight's outstretched pad and across the goal line to put the Lightning up 3-0 with 5:24 left in regulation.
With 1:42 left on the clock, Alex Killorn then cashed in on an empty net to make it 4-0. By the time the final buzzer sounded, however, Maroon's goal ended up being all Tampa Bay would need as Andrei Vasilevsky stopped all 29 shots he faced to lock in the 4-0 shutout win.
"We needed to get that first one," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "We had some great looks, some great opportunities. Some didn't even get on net that could've been the best quality chances we had. [Vasilevskiy] was great. This series in this building, we had three pretty good games as far generating what we wanted to generate, but we weren't able to crack him tonight."
Looking at the numbers, the Panthers finished the game with advantages over the Lightning in shot attempts (43-39) and scoring chances (24-23) at 5-on-5, but were unable to cash in on any of their looks, including the five attempts that they let loose from high-danger areas on the ice.
Overall, Tampa Bay closed out the series with a slim 12-10 lead over Florida in 5-on-5 goals.
"Before the playoffs, we were one of the contenders," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. "We played really good hockey during the regular season. We showed everyone what we were capable of. We played really good hockey in the playoffs. I know we didn't win games, but we played pretty good 5-on-5 hockey. We had a lot of chances. We just couldn't win games. That's the point of hockey, you've got to win games. We only won two, but you've got to win four."
From dealing with daily COVID-19 protocols to adjusting to a revamped roster to learning to live without their top defenseman in Aaron Ekblad, the Panthers certainly overcame a lot during this season while still managing to be one of the NHL's most-competitive teams from start to finish.
They claimed second place in the Central Division during the regular season, with their 37-14-5 record also giving them the fourth-most points in the NHL. Players like Barkov and Huberdeau also became household names, while fans brought BB&T Center back to life after a year away.
This was a team that began the season as underdogs, but ended it with the respect of the NHL.
"This year I felt way different," Barkov said. "It was a different year. I've been saying all year that it was a new start for me, for everyone in this organization. That's how we felt and how we played."
Here are five takeaways from Wednesday's loss in Tampa…

1. KNIGHT'S ASCENSION

It only took a few games for Knight to make a name for himself in the NHL.
Just 48 hours removed from backstopping the Panthers to a 4-1 win in Game 5, the 20-year-old, who became the second-youngest goaltender to ever make their NHL playoffs debut, was sharp again despite taking the loss in Game 6, stopping 20 of 23 shots the Lightning fired off his way.
Of his seven high-danger saves, one of the most impressive came with only a few minutes left in regulation when he used his stick to deny Blake Coleman's five-hole attempt on a breakaway.
With his career only just beginning, Knight said the playoff experience was invaluable.
"I think it was good to just get a taste of what the playoffs are like," Knight said. "I think, for me coming in, it was about trying to help the team win. That was my priority, and to have fun while I was doing it. I think a couple a weeks after I kind of decompress, I'll be able to look back on it."
From the moment he left Boston College and made the leap to the professional ranks in March, Knight has looked every bit like the top goaltending prospect the Panthers knew he would be.
The No. 13 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Knight went a perfect 4-0-0 with a 2.32 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in four appearances (three starts) during the regular season before going on to post a 1-1-0 record with a .933 save percentage in two postseason starts.
Adapting to his new surroundings quickly, Quenneville liked what he saw in the promising young goalie.
"Even those regular-season games he played, it's a tremendous start to your career," Quenneville said of Knight. "Great exposure to the best players in the game, great shooters. For goalies, it's like an acquired art where you learn from different experiences, different shooters.
"You seem to anticipate more, predict a little bit more about where the shots are going. He's a student of the game. It's only going to be beneficial with time. It's hard to say he's going to keep getting better. We're pretty excited about Spencer Knight."

2. SERIES SHOWDOWN

Looking at the numbers, the series couldn't have been much closer than it was.
While the Lightning finished with a narrow 12-10 advantage in goals at 5-on-5, the Panthers led in shot attempts (281-235), shots on goal (162-147), scoring chances (148-113) and expected goals (11.12-9.93) throughout the entire six-game series, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
That said, the Lightning also paced the Panthers 8-6 in goals on the power play.
Likely deserving a better result in most games they played, Quenneville said the Panthers unfortunately falling behind early in the best-of-seven series left little to no room for error.
"Well, you get down 3-1 and you don't have many opportunities to have a game like you did tonight where you do what you wanted to do and you can't put one by [Vasilevskiy]," Quenneville said. "You can look at any game. … I think we could've got something out of every game here. It was kind of like how we played them in the regular season, every game was competitive until the end. There's always things you learn."

3. A FEW MILESTONES

The series only went six games, but several Panthers made history in the process.
In addition to Knight's milestones, Huberdeau's 10 points (two goals, eight assists) were the most-ever by a Panther in a single playoff series in franchise history. Sitting second on the team in scoring, Barkov notched seven points, including registering at least one in five of six games.
Among the newcomers, Mason Marchment became the first Panthers rookie to score multiple goals in the postseason, while Owen Tippett finished with a pair of multi-point performances.
Of course, Ryan Lomberg's amazing overtime-winner in Game 3 also won't soon be forgotten.
"I like what we were doing, but it just didn't go our way this series," Huberdeau said. "We're optimistic for the next year, for sure."

4. LESSONS LEARNED

Heading into the playoffs, Quenneville said the Panthers were about to learn a lot of lessons.
After all, even for established stars likes Barkov and Huberdeau, this was just the third season in which they tasted postseason hockey. For players like Anthony Duclair, Gustav Forsling and Marchment, it was their first. But from veteran's to rookies, everyone learned a little something.
Moving forward, these lessons should yield great results in the future.
"We learned how hard it is to win," Quenneville said when asked about his takeaways from the hard-fought series with the Lightning. "The first round is the toughest round ever. There was a lot of good things that happened with our team, and I loved how we competed in this playoff."
As for Barkov, like all of his teammates, he's itching to get right back at it next season.
"That's why your parents put you on skates when you're 3 or 4 years told, to play in these types of games," Barkov said. "I enjoyed every second [of the playoffs]. I know it was tough. We lost games, and we won games. I wanted this to continue even longer."

5. JUST THE BEGINNING

The good news for Barkov is this does feel like a new era for the Panthers.
Despite having their playoff run come to an end earlier than they'd hoped, the Panthers put the rest of the league on notice during the 2020-21 campaign. In addition to finishing second in the Central Division, their 37-14-5 record also gave them the fourth-most points in the NHL with 79.
They have proven superstars in Barkov, Huberdeau and Ekblad, and a very strong pipeline of prospects set to provide the team with even more depth. Former top draft picks such as Knight and Tippett are already here making noise, while others like Anton Lundell aren't too far behind.
And if the unbelievable crowd during Game 5 of the series at BB&T Center was any indication, fans throughout South Florida have already begun to realize that these aren't the same old Panthers.
This season might be over, but October is only five months away.
"Organization-wise, it's good to see that," Huberdeau said. "It's good to see the fans and get back in the winning culture. That's what we wanted this year, a great season. Obviously, playoffs matter and we want to win, but I think next year we come back with a better attitude and we can be a great team."